TACOMA, Wash. — Power has been restored to MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, who have been on generator power since Wednesday due to a power outage, officials with MultiCare told KIRO 7.
According to hospital officials, a water-cooling system leak shorted out an electrical switch, which caused an electrical fire. Smoke was in the hospital but no staff or patients were injured. The fire was contained to the vault.
The hospitals diverted trauma patients and surgery patients.
Operations were back to normal around 12:30 a.m. Monday.
In an email to KIRO 7, MultiCare said:
“MultiCare extends our thanks to Tacoma Public Utilities and our support vendor, CBS Field Service, for their partnership with our facilities team in making repairs and restoring power. We greatly appreciate the collaboration with health systems throughout the region for their support.
We recognize the dedication and excellence of all our physicians, nurses, and support staff during the last few days. Their work enabled us to safely care for our patients during challenging circumstances.”
Multicare says Tacoma General is the largest hospital in Tacoma as a level-two trauma center with 437 beds.