Surrey hospital ER opens two weeks after flooding caused by broken water main

SURREY, B.C. – B.C.’s busiest hospital emergency room is re-opening exactly two weeks after it was flooded by a broken water main.

A construction crew sliced through the main at Surrey Memorial Hospital on Nov. 19, unleashing a flood of muddy water into the ER, forcing its evacuation.

An urgent care facility was set up at a nearby outpatient clinic while ambulances carrying emergency patients were detoured to other area hospitals.

Fraser Health Authority spokesman Roy Thorpe-Dorward says clean up and infection control inspections have been completed and the ER is ready for business again, except for its MRI machine, which was damaged by the water.

He says fixing the MRI alone could cost a couple of million dollars.

Thorpe-Dorward says the overall flood damage at Surrey Memorial could be three million dollars or more. (CKNW)