Patients evacuated after water main break at Stoughton hospital

STOUGHTON, Mass. — More than 20 patients were evacuated from a Stoughton hospital after a water main break.

The incident occurred on the first floor of Cura Health, a hospital that handles long-term acute care, on Sunday morning.

Stoughton Police and Fire responded to the scene at 8:46 a.m., assisting medical staff in evacuating patients from the impacted floor. Police said that water service around the hospital may be impacted for a brief amount of time.

"We have at least four inches of water in that wing," Stoughton Fire Chief Michael Laracy said. "Got down to the first floor, collapsing ceilings."

The pipe erupted on the first floor of the building just before 9 a.m., prompting 28 nearby towns to assist with EMS response.

Stoughton Fire said there were no known injuries, but there was extensive damage to the hospital itself.

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Those evacuated included eight on ventilators, who were sent to nearby hospitals.

"The biggest challenge for us today was the safety of the patients," Laracy said. "You know, with all that water, we were concerned about the electrical. Definitely concerned with the electrical component of this incident where we had patients on ventilators."

The building is a multi-purpose building with offices, businesses and medical facilities, and the evacuations of patients led to confusion for families who went to visit on Sunday.

"I was surprised when I drove up," Richard Taylor said. "I have a family member who’s in here so I got up got here and saw this so it shocked me."

However, other family members were left frustrated with Cura Health, and said the water main break is no surprise.

"It’s been leaking since, there’s buckets all over the place when you go in catching water," Janet Leo said. "There’s drying machines on the floors to dry out the carpets and the ceilings. It’s been going on for too long."

The CEO of Cura Health said they've been actively making repairs to the building and the water main break was out of their control.

"We have invested lots of money in the HVAC of the building," CEO Macgregor Morgan said. "We are currently working on the roof, we are working on several of the floors, so the building continues to be updated as we go through. This water was something that could not have been foreseen or prevented."

Morgan said some of the evacuated patients would be transferred back Sunday, and said the rest would hopefully get back by Tuesday.

Those who have relatives receiving treatment in the hospitals long-term acute care unit are asked to call 781-297-8306 for transport information, according to Stoughton PD.

Cox Media Group