Although the clog in a sewer line has been cleared at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, its main medical facility remained mostly empty for a second straight day as officials worked Tuesday to rid it of any potentially harmful gases released as a result of the backup.
“Obviously the intent is to get our residents cared for locally again as quickly and as safely as we can. We’ll cut no corners on that,” said Gary Marchand, who has once again been named the hospital’s interim CEO.
Following the clog, which a Greenwood wastewater official says was caused by an accumulation of grease and rags that had been flushed into the hospital’s piping, the hospital conducted a visual inspection of the crawl space under the building.
Marchand said the ground was dry under the newer, western half of the hospital, but the older, eastern portion had areas of wet soil and some slight puddling. Since no broken pipes were detected, it is believed the clog caused human waste and other sewage to back up and leak out of flange joints and into the crawl space.
The ground was wet under all five elevator shafts in that part of the hospital complex, Marchand said.
He said he understands there is no major risk of bacteria or viruses from the leak seeping into patient areas. The main concern is the possibility of harmful gases, mostly methane, drifting into the hospital via the elevator shafts.
According to a release from the hospital, Atmos Energy tested the air quality throughout the building Monday and it met quality safety standards. A second testing was being conducted Tuesday.
The release said that a plumbing company was inspecting the piping with a camera to see if any of the pipes are compromised. Another contractor, Servpro, was on site to decontaminate the affected elevator shafts. The hospital was also getting quotes from three companies on remediation, which Marchand said would largely consist of spreading lime on the wet areas.
On Monday, the hospital shut down all but the emergency room. It canceled all surgeries and outpatient procedures scheduled by the clinics that operate within the 208-bed building, and it either discharged or transferred to other medical facilities all of its more than 30 inpatients.
Approximately 20 patients, including some who were being treated in intensive care, were transferred by ambulance to eight different medical facilities in Jackson, Grenada, Indianola, Greenville, Cleveland, Columbus, Oxford and Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Besides the emergency room staff, the hospital is operating with skeleton crews in the radiology, pharmacy and obstetrics departments and the lab. Marchand said the night shift was canceled for Tuesday and employees were told to stand by for an update Wednesday morning.
As a precaution, hospital employees who were working Tuesday were still not flushing commodes or running water down the drains. A bank of port-a-potties had been set up in the hospital’s parking lot for them to use.
Clinics and other hospital facilities located outside the building were not affected and remain operating as normal.
Eddie Payne, superintendent of Greenwood's Wastewater Treatment Department, says the clog at Greenwood Leflore Hospital was caused by an accumulation of grease and rags that had been flushed into the hospital's piping. (By Tim Kalich)
On Tuesday afternoon, a clean-out truck from Greenwood’s Wastewater Treatment Department was flushing out a manhole on Strong Avenue, near the hospital, so that whatever work the hospital was doing with its piping would not cause another clog on the city’s side and impact residents and other businesses in the area.
Eddie Payne, the department’s superintendent, said Monday’s clog originated at the hospital.
“It seemed like an excessive amount of grease and rags,” he said.
Marchand said that hospital employees began smelling an odor, apparently of sewage, on Friday morning and the hospital tried to trace it down before the situation reached a crisis point Monday morning.
Before the hospital can reopen, it must be cleared by the Mississippi State Department of Health. An emergency planner from the Department of Health has been on site conferring with the hospital’s crisis response team as it develops a remediation plan to submit to the state.
Marchand said that since there appear to be no broken pipes, the shutdown should be short-lived. He said it was possible that the newer part of the hospital would be cleared to reopen while remediation work is done on the older, impacted part.
The loss of patient revenue from the shutdown could compound the financial difficulties of the hospital, which is seeking bids on a long-term lease because it is running out of cash to operate. For the first 10 months of this fiscal year, the hospital has lost $12.7 million, even after using $9.2 million in mostly federal coronavirus relief grants.
“A two-day shutdown is better than a week,” said Marchand. “A week is better than a month. A month is better than a year.”
- Contact Tim Kalich at 662-581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
