Flooding at Grady Hospital prompts closure of 62 patient beds

Grady Memorial Hospital is making significant progress in its recovery following the break of a pressurized 24-inch diameter water pipe on Dec. 7, DeKalb Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson shared in her electronic newsletter.

Repairs to the pipe were complete by Dec. 9, Monday morning, and visitation restrictions were lifted Tuesday. Electrical repairs continue in the affected patient care tower, and may take up to three weeks to complete. During that time, 30 percent of the hospital elevators will remain out of service, officials said in a release.

Cleanup and repairs have begun in the patient units significantly damaged by flooding.

“We hope to reopen 62 beds to patient care within a week. There are 158 beds located in damaged units that will be off-line for several months of repair and restoration work. Those efforts have already begun,” hospital officials said.

“We continue to work collaboratively with metro area providers on any additional patient transfers, keeping the best interest of the patient at the forefront of our decisions.”

The hospital moved several patients from water-damaged areas to other units at Grady, as well as discharged some patients home. Forty-five Grady patients were accepted by other hospitals for inpatient care and nearly 30 were safely transported to post-acute care facilities.

“We are grateful that some Atlanta hospitals have been able to step in and deliver patient care during our emergency. We recognize the serious burden these institutions experienced as they collectively provided care to those who were not able to come to our emergency department via ambulance,” the hospital stated. “Grady averages over 450 emergency room visits per day however, due to our diversion status, we have only been able to care for about 200 patients per day who arrived at our emergency room on their own.”

The hospital said it is working with its hospital partners, the state, and emergency management agencies to eliminate full diversion at Grady.