Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center suffered a power outage this morning after a component of the electrical system overheated.
DHMC relies on clean power for most of its electricity and data systems, and overheating around 6 a.m. resulted in a "smoke incident," said media relations manager Mike Barwell. No patients or staff were affected .
"The resulting damage to our electrical system knocked out most of our crucial components," Barwell said.
Power returned at around 9:30 a.m., but the majority of DHMC's communications and data systems remain down. Technicians have restored the clean power systems and are working to bring the electronic patient records system, email and paging capabilities back online. The hospital is currently running on a backup system, using paper forms to record medications, tests and admissions.
DHMC was placed under complete diversion, admitting no patients. As of press time, the hospital is under partial diversion, under which those with severe health complaints, such as stroke or other critical medical issues, will be admitted.
The hospital anticipates that it will be back to full operational capacity within 48 hours. Though the electrical system will likely be repaired before then, it must undergo testing and all the backup data recorded during the outage must be input into the system.
