Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Woodhull Hospital resumed operations Saturday, a week after the medical facility was forced to shut down and evacuate its patients due to a massive power failure incurred during a record-setting rainstorm that overtook the city on Sept. 29.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull announced that inpatient hospital operations were able to return Oct. 7 following a “thorough assessment and restoration” of its electrical systems. The hospital group said Woodhull’s outpatient services will operate on their typical weekday schedule starting Tuesday, Oct. 10.
The torrential rainstorm that inundated some parts of the five boroughs with more than a half-foot of rain triggered a power failure at Woodhull and forced the facility to run on emergency backup power while it transferred patients to other sites.
NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates the massive medical center, said the evacuation was necessary as Con Edison had to shut down the backup generator in order to fully restore power to Woodhull.
Staff at Woodhull Hospital met with city officials to coordinate an orderly evacuation of the facility as necessary repairs were estimated to take several days. As part of the coordinated effort, some 120 patients were transferred to other NYC Health + Hospitals facilities around the city via ambulances, ambulettes, FDNY vehicles and NYC Emergency Management vehicles.
A hospital spox said 50 of the patients who were transferred during the evacuation are set to return to Woodhull Hospital on Tuesday, Oct 10.
Mayor Eric Adams thanked the public servants who came together to ensure the transfer of patients was “orderly, coordinated, and safe.”
“With the necessary electrical repairs complete and essential services restored, NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull is ready to begin welcoming patients again,” said Adams.
Likewise, NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull CEO Gregory Calliste extended his thanks to everyone who answered the call to support the hospital “during this extraordinarily challenging week, culminating in the necessity to evacuate our patients.”
“Together, we stood united, prioritizing the safety and well-being of our patients above all else. Your contributions have left an indelible mark on our hospital’s history,” Calliste said.
