Authorities say over 200 patients at White Memorial Hospital in Boyle Heights were evacuated following a power outage late Monday night.
The outage was reported at around 11:45 p.m. Monday at the facility’s Specialty Care Center located on 1720 E. Cesar Chavez Avenue, according to officials from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). At least 241 patients were evacuated during the incident, including 28 in critical condition.
During a press conference early Tuesday morning, Adventist Health White Memorial president John G. Raffoul stated that an additional outage at the hospital had occurred Monday morning during Tropical Storm Hilary. Three emergency generators expected to last at least three days kicked in during this outage, though they failed overnight at the hospital’s main tower.
Firefighters physically carried many of the patients down from the hospital’s upper floors to ambulances as elevators were down during the outage. Those in critical need were transported to nearby hospitals for care, while all others were taken to the hospital’s South Tower that did not experience a power outage, authorities said.
LAFD officials added that a woman gave birth during the outage, during which battery-powered flashlights were used to illuminate the room. The baby, mother and all other hospital patients are in safe condition, officials said during the conference.
