[UPDATED] Queen Elizabeth Hospital closes operating rooms for two days due to power outage

KOTA KINABALU – The operating theatres at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) I will be closed for two days starting today due to the current power outage.

Sabah Health Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said the closure is being done to ensure a stable power supply can be channelled to the wards and the intensive care unit.

“A total of 28 elective surgeries scheduled today have been postponed while all emergency surgeries will now be carried out at QEH II,” she said in a statement today.

Rose Nani said repair works on the hospital’s permanent power cables remain ongoing and the department will provide updates from time to time until electricity supply is fully restored.

She added that the department will not be calling for a press conference as current statements are sufficient to address the matter.

It has been almost 24 hours since the hospital has been running on backup power supplied by temporary generators as repair works continue on its permanent electricity cables.

Rose Nani could not confirm when repairs will be completed as works are being carried out by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and hospital concessionaire Sedafiat Sdn Bhd.

“Repair works are still ongoing this morning, and are being done on the permanent cables in order to fully restore power,” she told The Vibes this morning.

She said the hospital was running on the two existing generators but the machines were exhausted and two more were sent to the hospital by SESB.

The electricity disruption started at 11.54am yesterday.

She said at 8pm, electricity supply was available in all wards and the intensive care unit, except for the operating rooms.

“When the outage happened, the power supply did not immediately go out as the generators kicked in.

“There was still time to relocate patients and the surgeries to the second hospital,” she said, referring to QEH II.

“To ensure services are not disrupted, some of the patients had to be sent to QEH II, including all surgeries.”

She also assured that patients are doing fine despite the outage. – The Vibes, April 20, 2022