Roads were closed around the hospital this morning for about an hour when a leak in Mid-Columbia Medical Center’s main oxygen tank was detected.
Oxygen is highly flammable, and to contain the risk, vehicle traffic was shut down and people were only allowed to enter the west side of the hospital, which is the main entrance, and the emergency entrance, said hospital spokeswoman Athena Miller.
The tank is on the northeast corner of the hospital, at the top of Oregon Street where it intersects East 19th Street. The leak was discovered by MCMC’s director of engineering, Joe Abbas, almost as soon as it began, Miller said.
A leak has not happened before to anyone’s knowledge, Miller said.
The hospital switched to backup sources of oxygen, and patient care was not interrupted by the switch, she said. The hospital has ample supplies of backup oxygen to meet patient needs, she said. “We have more than enough. It’s not a concern.”
The tank was shut off in less than an hour, she said. Traffic was resumed around 8 a.m.
“The initial concern was making sure nothing happened from the time when the oxygen leak first started happening to when they could shut it off from the main line,” she said.
“From what I understand, they were keeping everybody inside while they got the oxygen repaired,” Miller said.
No one was evacuated, she said.
“They were asking people during that hour to park off campus and walk up,” she said.
The hospital called service personnel to the site and they worked to identify where the leak was and isolate it as quickly as possible, Miller said. Then once the leak was shut off there was a waiting period to ensure the leak was truly stopped and the area was cleared of any danger.
The tank is still shut off and it was unknown this morning how long repair work would take.
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