Just over 24 hours after a campus-wide power outage affected one of Utah’s largest medical centers, Murray’s top fire official said the failure was likely caused by an issue with the power system at the hospital.
Murray’s Intermountain Medical Center lost power for unknown reasons at about 11:15 a.m. Thursday. Its backup generator failed shortly after, and full power wasn’t restored to the campus until 1 p.m., forcing the hospital to divert incoming ambulances and transfer some patients, including five babies and six laboring mothers.
Murray Fire Chief Joseph Mittelman said as far as the city is aware, the outage wasn’t caused by an issue with Murray City Power, which is the hospital’s energy provider.
Intermountain spokesperson Jess Gomez said he did not have a final report on the outage and could not speculate on its source.
“Our review of our systems is still underway,” he said. “Once we know more information, we’ll share that.”
Gomez said the hospital is operating normally now.
Mittelman said the city is paying close attention to the system and is prepared to act quickly if more issues arise.
“We have eyes on our power grid right now,” Mittelman said. “... So within a moment’s notice or second’s notice, we would identify and then respond accordingly if something were to happen now, where before it would come out through dispatch… We’re all staying available and prepared.”
For his part, Gomez said the hospital has contingency plans “for any situation” and that they can be implemented when needed.
“We don’t anticipate any further issues,” he said, “but are prepared for any scenario to ensure the safety of our patients and caregivers.”
The hospital campus appeared to be the only place within the Murray City Power Department’s boundary that experienced a significant outage Thursday afternoon, according to the city’s outage map at the time.
During the outage, some of the hospital’s communication systems weren’t functional, so hospital staff went floor to floor and spoke via cell phone to coordinate until systems came back on line, Gomez said.
Mittelman added that the city and hospital are prepared for any potential issues in the future.
“Rest assured,” Mittelman said, “it’s in great hands right now, and they’re ready to go if anything does happen.”
An investigation into what caused the outage is ongoing.