Maternity services at the Wexford General Hospital, which was damaged by fire, will resume at 9 a.m. today, with outpatient activity starting on Monday, according to hospital manager Linda O’Leary.
Ms. O’Leary said that in addition to the fire that started on Wednesday afternoon, smoke also caused to damage to the facility. She claimed that there was also significant water damage.
In a conversation with RTÉ, she said that other services would reopen gradually, depending on how quickly they could verify that basic services were restored.
“For example medical gasses, oxygen, we need all those services to be restored and accurate and available to us before we can re-open entirely.”
Ms O’Leary said that assessors and technical experts had been working on site all day, alongside engineers to work out what happened and the extent of the damage.
Out of the 207 people who were treated in the hospital, around 60 have been sent home, while 29 are still there. The remaining patients have been transferred to other hospitals.
These victims were transported by ambulances to hospitals in Waterford, Kilkenny, Cork, Dublin, and Navan between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer Ray Murphy said the fire started in a plant room on top of a vital portion of the hospital, close to a central stairwell and lift tower, and three adjacent ward blocks.
The cause of the fire has not yet been established, but Mr Murphy said he would expect that it may have been a piece of equipment, such as a pump or motor, which may have malfunctioned.
He said the scale of the damage was “medium to small” and said he would not consider it “any large damage whatsoever”, adding that it was confined to a small area within the hospital.
He said that while the hospital would reopen in a few days, it might take weeks or months to admit more than 200 patients.
Anybody with questions about a patient transfer should call the helpline for family members of family members at 053-9153012.