Temporary shut down at Wonthaggi Hospital

Due to recent power outages at Wonthaggi Hospital, Bass Coast Health has announced the hospital will have a forced power outage tomorrow morning between 9am and 11am.

This means the hospital will be operating without power for two hours, and will be on bypass from ambulance services.

While a small generator will power essential services like fridges containing blood supplies, nursing staff will be in the dark, literally.

"There will be no lights throughout the hospital and staff will be using torches," CEO Jan Child said.

She urged people to avoid coming to the hospital between 9am and 11am tomorrow, unless they needed urgent medical attention.

The dramatic shut down has come about after two power outages in the space of a month, due to a fault in an ageing powerboard.

Last Sunday morning, power went out for 28 minutes in all areas of the Hospital except the Grabham Wing, Short Stay Unit, and Kirrak House, sparking a Code Yellow activation.

An earlier outage lasted for three hours.

Ms Child said the cause of the outages was an ageing trip unit/powerboard, that was due to be upgraded as part of the Wonthaggi Hospital Expansion project, but given the two incidents, immediate action was needed.  

BCH cancelled surgery and obstetrics at Wonthaggi Hospital this week and tomorrow, all morning chemotherapy and dialysis appointments have been rescheduled.

“Ageing infrastructure has been a significant concern for Bass Coast Health and is the key reason for expanding the Wonthaggi Hospital which is due for completion in August 2021. Unfortunately, our community can not wait for this new infrastructure. We need resilience in our power sources today”, said Ms Child.

"We know that the trip unit is 25 years old, is now an obsolete product that has no spare parts."

She said the Department of Health had supporting BCH to fast track a stable power supply and find the replacement, which will be installed tomorrow.  

BCH sites in San Remo and at the Urgent Care Centre in Cowes will not be impacted by Friday's power outage.

Ms Child said normal hospital services would resume as soon as the power was restored at 11am.