Power restored after major outage at Christchurch Hospital

A major power outage is being reported at the Christchurch Hospital. Photo / George Heard

A major power outage that struck Christchurch Hospital earlier tonight, affecting all systems including power, IT and phones, has been restored.

“A one-hour power outage due to a network outage left some areas in total darkness earlier this evening,” Te Whatu Ora- Waitaha Canterbury said.

The Waipapa acute services building is currently receiving power from its on-site generators, while the Parkside and Riverside buildings are back on mains power.

“Thankfully all 478 patients in our care, including 96 in ED at the time the power went out are safe.

“We appreciate the support of St John, Civil Defence, the 24-Hour Surgery as well as our own staff, including those who came in to work on restoring our systems,” Waitaha Canterbury said.

Earlier, it was understood back-up power generators had not kicked in and patients had been asked to seek alternative care unless it was an emergency,

“We will be reviewing why the generators didn’t automatically connect to the hospital’s systems when the power failed,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for Christchurch power company Orion told the Herald: “We don’t have an issue supplying power to the hospital on our end at the current moment.”

Christchurch Hospital also has its own high-voltage power network.

Te Whatu Ora said earlier: “The 24-hour surgery is open and is only able to see people with urgent health needs. If it’s not urgent you will have to wait to be seen.”

Christchurch Hospital has the busiest emergency department in Australasia, treating more than 83,000 patients a year.

It is also the largest tertiary, teaching and research hospital in the South Island.