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Intermittent power outages over a three-day period at Lions Gate Hospital resulted in 23 surgery cancellations in June.
The intermittent power failures at the hospital, the result of BC Hydro repairs, happened June 17 to 20.
According to Vancouver Coastal Health, a technical fault with electrical switches delayed the triggering of the hospital’s back-up power generators.
As a result, 23 scheduled surgeries were postponed at Lions Gate. As of June 27, 16 of those surgeries had been rescheduled or completed, according to VCH.
Clinical staff are prioritizing providing alternative dates for the remaining patients who were impacted by the incident, according to the health authority.
Those in charge at Lions Gate Hospital and technical experts have investigated what caused the power failure and the technical problem has now been fixed, according to VCH.
“Additional measures have also been put in place to support continuity of safe, quality patient care in case of future power disruptions,” the health authority said in a statement.
The health authority added that all VCH hospital generators, which are supposed to provide back-up power in the event of a power outage, are routinely tested and maintained by the health authority’s facilities team in line with manufacturer’s guidelines.
