By HFT Staff

The University of Vermont Medical Center’s main campus experienced flooding earlier this month when a pipe burst, affecting operating rooms. Staff were able to protect equipment in the facility’s 22 operating rooms and set the stage for repairs.  

Two operating rooms were still functional after the burst pipe and were able to handle emergency surgeries. Central Vermont Medical Center and Porter Medical Center are also providing support as needed. The Environmental Health and Safety team has cleared eight additional ORs to reopen, bringing the total number of operating rooms in service at its main campus back to 10. Emergency surgeries will still be performed, and major vascular cases will be diverted to other hospitals when possible.  

The 49 scheduled elective surgeries have been postponed until additional ORs are able to be brough back online, surgical teams will be reviewing schedules and current capacity and rescheduling elective surgeries on a case-by-case basis. Patients who need to be rescheduled will be contacted for further information and next steps. 

The healthcare facility estimates will take about a week for repairs to be made to make the remaining operating rooms functional.