CRISFIELD, Md. - Emergency Services at the TidalHealth McCready Pavilion in Crisfield are scheduled to reopen at 5 p.m. Tuesday after a water main break forced the temporary shutdown of multiple services, according to TidalHealth.
TidalHealth said the water main has been repaired and the facility’s boilers are coming back online, restoring heat to the building. The health system said other services at the pavilion are expected to reopen Wednesday, though holiday hours may be in effect.
The outage prompted officials to suspend services at the pavilion earlier Tuesday because the building did not have heat or running water. TidalHealth announced that the closures included the Emergency Department, outpatient lab services, physical therapy, radiology and TidalHealth Primary Care.
Charles Dolan, TidalHealth vice president of clinical operations, said the system first heard about a potential break around 2:30 p.m. Monday, but the facility remained functional at that time. Dolan said the situation changed overnight when the city turned the water off because of challenges maintaining water pressure in the community.
Dolan said the decision to suspend services was driven by patient care requirements. “We have to have running water and we have to have heat to take care of the patients,” Dolan said.
During the closure, TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury served as a key alternative option for emergency care needs on the Lower Shore. Liz Townsend, clinical manager of the Emergency Department at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, said staff were focused on making sure anyone who arrived at the Crisfield pavilion for urgent needs was directed to appropriate care. “They should absolutely call 911,” Townsend said.
TidalHealth said Chesapeake Cove Assisted Living and Alice B. Tawes Nursing & Rehabilitation remained open during the outage and continued operating with heat and running water.
TidalHealth also said patients with impacted appointments were being contacted to reschedule. Dolan told WBOC that no more than 20 patients needed to be rescheduled Tuesday.
TidalHealth said updates on service status would continue as operations return to normal.
