Green Bay hospital transfers patients after water main break

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - A Green Bay hospital had to transfer 50 patients after a water main break shut down the heat Saturday.

The break caused flooding in the basement at about 2 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay, shutting down the boiler, according to Press-Gazette Media reports (http://gbpg.net/1xUXSM3).

Dr. Ken Johnson, the hospital's chief physician executive, said the hospital used 12 ambulances to transfer patients to St. Vincent Hospital. Patients included new mothers and newborns to people recovering from surgery, Johnson said. Patients were never in danger, and the transfers were done in an orderly manner, he said.

Larry Connors, St. Mary's chief operating officer, said the cause of the main break hasn't been determined. The water was drained, and contractors and the hospital's maintenance crew were working on it.

Neither Connors nor Johnson could specify how long the hospital would be out of commission. It likely would be a matter of a day or two, Johnson said.

Connors said the priority would be to get the hospital's emergency room up and running.

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Information from: Press-Gazette Media, http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com