Below is a press release by Catherine Walker, QHC Manager Communications and Community Relations.
At approximately 8:45pm on Tuesday evening – a fire code was called due to a small, contained electrical fire on Quinte 5 Medicine Unit at Belleville General Hospital. The Belleville Fire Department and EMS promptly attended to the fire. No patients were injured. Approximately 6 staff members were seen in the ED as a precautionary measure due to smoke inhalation.
All 44 patients on Quinte 5 medicine unit, 28 patients on Quinte 6 surgical inpatient unit and 8 patients on Quinte 7 maternal/child unit were promptly evacuated by staff, physicians and EMS personnel as part of the hospital’s emergency response procedures. Patients from Quinte 6 and 7 were able to safely return to their units within approximately 90 minutes.
However, due to smoke damage, Quinte 5 medicine unit is not able to accommodate patients until a full clean-up of the area is complete. While it’s too early to provide accurate timelines until a full assessment of the damages has been completed, we are planning that the unit will remain unavailable for a number of days. The patients from Quinte 5 medicine unit have all be relocated to various other units at BGH for care. A number of additional staff and physicians have been called in to assist with care.
Staff have reached out out to family members of patients on Quinte 5 to notify them of the situation and to inform them of where their loved ones have been relocated at BGH. A number of surgeries scheduled for Thursday have been cancelled and patients will be notified of the need to reschedule with their surgeon’s office.
“A special thanks to QHC staff and physicians, and the EMS and Belleville Fire personnel for their quick and professional response to this situation. I also wish to express my sincere thanks our patients impacted by the relocation for their understanding and appreciation.” – Mary Clare Egberts, President and Chief Executive Officer.
