Flooding Affects Some Downriver Hospital Operations: UPDATED

UPDATED:

Oakwood Hospital-Dearborn has reopened its emergency department is now open and fully operational after flooding shut down part of the facility. The hospital is accepting all ambulance traffic, including trauma cases, a spokesman said.

OUR PREVIOUS REPORT:

Hospital emergency rooms in Downriver communities are closed after a record six inches of rainfall in a period of about four hours caused flooding in the city.

Both Oakwood Hospital-Dearborn and Henry Ford Health System in Wyandotte closed emergency rooms, The Press & Guide reports.

Oakwood Hospital also temporarily closed its nuclear medicine and radiology departments, which are located along with the emergency room on the lower level.

Dearborn Mayor John “Jack” B. O’Reilly Jr. said a sump pump failure caused the lower level of the hospital and elevators to fill with floodwaters.

No patients were put at risk, he said.

The flooding at Oakwood caused “significant damage” and recovery could take several days, hospital spokesman Scott Spielman told the Detroit Free Press.

The Henry Ford hospital in Wyandotte saw less significant damage and was accepting walk-in only patience Monday. Ambulance transports there have resumed.

» For amateur video of the flooding at Oakwood Hospital, click here.

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PHOTO: Floodwaters swamped the lower levels of hospitals in Dearborn and Wyandotte. (Patch file photo)