‘Resumption of normal operations’ at Emory University Hospital in Midtown after major water outage

Emory University Hospital in Midtown was “resuming normal operations” Sunday after repairing several water main breaks in Atlanta, the hospital said in a statement.

The hospital said water pressure returned to normal overnight. Ambulances have also resumed normal hospital admissions. And the hospital will be able to operate its regular hours for outpatient medical appointments, procedures and surgeries on Monday.

The hospital will continue to provide bottled water to patients, visitors and staff while remaining under a boil water advisory.

“We thank our teams for their hard work and for the safe, quality care provided to our patients during this disruption,” the hospital said in a statement. “We also thank the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management crews for working around the clock to restore the water.”

Emory University Hospital in Midtown was forced to bypass and move some patients after numerous water main breaks left much of Atlanta without water Friday.

The situation became so bad on Saturday afternoon that the hospital – which has around 500 inpatients – didn’t even have enough water pressure to flush toilets and was forced to rely on bottled water for all its water needs.

The emergency department at Emory University Hospital in Midtown was diverted to ambulance traffic, except for patients with urgent heart problems. About 10 patients requiring dialysis were transferred to other Emory hospitals for treatment. Dialysis depends on the pressure of a local municipal water supply.

Most outpatient medical appointments, such as oncology and radiology appointments, were rescheduled for another day on Saturday. or have been transferred to another Emory site. Some lab tests have also been transferred to other Emory hospitals.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

Meanwhile, at Grady Memorial Hospital, water service was restored Sunday and water pressure “increased significantly,” according to a hospital statement.

All appointments, procedures and surgeries will resume normal operations at Grady on Monday, the hospital said.

On Saturday, Grady continued to experience low water pressure after the water main broke. Elective procedures were canceled, but the hospital remained “fully operational” and the emergency room was accepting all patients,” according to a statement from Grady administrators Saturday.

“We are grateful to our team who have done their best to keep patients safe and continue to provide exceptional care during this time,” Grady said in a statement. “We also appreciate the work of the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management to address this issue.”

Atlanta’s water crisis seemed far from over Sunday afternoon, however. Authorities said they are investigating two new potential main breaks at Euclid and North avenues and at 1190 Atlantic Drive NW.

Residents and businesses in those areas, city officials say, could experience the kind of disruptions that have hit Atlanta since the first water main break was discovered Friday near Joseph E. Boone and James Boulevards P. Brawley Drive.