The emergency room at Boston Medical Center is closed until Tuesday after a pipe burst on Saturday night.
Water flooded the building and patients couldn’t walk inside for hours as temperatures plunged below zero. Meanwhile, patients already inside were moved to other parts of the hospital.
The dangerously cold weather lead to a code black at Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women's and several other Boston Hospitals. Security guards outside of the emergency room entrance on Sunday morning were redirecting people to the emergency room at Tufts.
"Due to severe weather, a pipe froze and burst Saturday night in Boston Medical Center’s Emergency Department. All patients in the affected areas of the Emergency Department were safely moved to other areas of the hospital. The Emergency Department will remain closed until Tuesday.” wrote Boston Medical Center in a statement late Saturday night.
Ambulances are also being diverted to other hospitals — though others had their own problems Saturday night.
The dangerously cold weather sent several area hospitals into code black, which is when they stop accepting ambulances.
Sunday morning at Tufts Medical Center, a number of pipes burst and elevators were unavailable for about 45 minutes. President Diana Richardson said the morning was "certainly a little bit busier than usual," but noted that the hospitals are all working together to make sure every patient is taken care of.
"We are anticipating as the day goes on that we will continue to see more walking volume as well as ambulance traffic," she said. "So we are busier than normal now, but we do anticipate the day will continue to get busier than normal.”
