Water damage cleanup continues at Miami Valley Hospital

Jan. 16—Cleanup continued Tuesday at Miami Valley Hospital after a crack in the hospital's rooftop air handling unit caused water to pour into parts of the hospital Sunday and caused "significant" damage, though the estimated cost of the damage was not available on Tuesday.

The water problem started shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday at the hospital at 1 Wyoming St. when a coil inside an air handler on the roof cracked, a Premier Health spokesperson said.

Water damage was "significant" Sunday at Miami Valley Hospital, but patient care was not affected, the spokesperson said.

Hospital staff and outside vendors worked the past two days to address the water damage. Patient care is continuing, along with elective surgical cases.

"(We) continue to assess the damage but the good news is patient rooms were not affected. Crews will continue to work to mitigate the damage," the spokesperson said.

Over the weekend, social media posts from people in the hospital showed water gushing out of a ceiling in one hallway, about an inch of water on the floor in another part of the hospital, and water cascading down an interior stairwell.

At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, three trucks from Barnhizer & Associates, a company advertising water and mold cleanup services, were parked outside the main entrance of the hospital. Employees of the company could be seen entering and exiting the hospital.

Much activity in the main lobby of the hospital, which was dry, was going on as usual, but some hallways had caution tape blocking them. The water issues did not affect patient areas of the hospital but were limited to office and other staff spaces, Premier Health said.