White Plains Hospital floods as sprinkler bursts in labor and delivery wing, patients relocated
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A sprinkler malfunction at White Plains Hospital caused dozens of patients, including new moms and some in labor, to be relocated on a day of total disruption Thursday.
A sprinkler head burst at around 7:30 a.m. in the Westchester County hospital's labor and delivery wing.
Workers with a disaster recovery firm spent hours cleaning up water that was ankle-deep in some places and cascading down stairs in others as thousands of gallons of water flooded the 5th and 6th floors.
Staff put sheets and blankets on the floor to mop up what they could.
"Our staff worked together immediately to relocate our patients to unaffected areas of the hospital and all are safe," the hospital said in a statement. "We are currently assessing the impacted areas to understand when we can move patients back into that wing."
The hospital released a picture of vacuums being used to dry out the floors after staff moved fast to relocate patients safely.
"Just patient care, you know. Getting the patients to a safe location where they're not impacted by the water," said Katrina Gutierrez, a hospital worker.
All patients were safely relocated to unaffected areas, but some elective procedures were delayed and visitors were turned away, according to White Plains Hospital.
"Nobody's allowed up because the elevators are down on that wing. So we have to wait," said Aine O'Connor, who was trying to visit.
"They're not letting anyone up, and don't know when. So I was just sitting, literally, in the cafe," another woman said.
The emergency room was briefly on diversion and ambulances remained at the ready in case patients needed to be evacuated.
For now, the hospital said it's focused on returning to normal operations and determining why the sprinklers malfunctioned.