More than two dozen critical patients had to be transported to other facilities when the power went out at Adventist Health White Memorial Monday night.
The outage was reported shortly after 11 p.m. at the hospital located in the 1700 block of East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The Specialty Care Center was affected by the power outage, according to an alert from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
“At the point of the power outage, their main power and emergency power was completely off, completely out,” LAFD Capt. Cody Weireter said.
Twenty-eight critical condition patients required transportation by ambulance to other hospitals, LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said during a morning news conference.
“There’s no power, no elevators,” Crowley said while describing the situation firefighters and patients were in.
More than 200 non-critical patients required assistance as well. Some needing help down the stairs in the six-story building. Ambulances were waiting in the parking lot outside to assist the patients in need.
Firefighters also assisted in the birth of a baby during the outage. They used battery-powered flashlights to illuminate the hospital room. The baby boy and his mother were transferred to another hospital and are OK.
The outage was caused by an equipment failure stemming from an electrical panel at the hospital, a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesperson told KTLA.
LADWP crews were assisting the hospital in restoring power to the building.
Those with family members at the Specialty Care Center can contact the hospital at 323-268-5000 for more information.