As of Jan. 11, the boil advisories in Greater Richmond have been lifted. Click here for an explainer on flushing your pipes after a boil advisory.
The capital city’s lack of potable water has snarled operations at area hospitals and health care centers, diverting patients, closing facilities and canceling procedures.
Richmonders have reported having no running water after a winter storm-related power outage caused the city’s water reservoir system to fail.
Mayor Danny Avula’s administration said at noon that water production had been restored, and a boil water advisory issued Monday remains in effect for all residents with water. The city announced water bottle distribution plans for Tuesday.
Amid the city’s ongoing water restoration efforts, area hospitals and health care facilities were forced to make operational changes Tuesday, impacting patients and procedures.
Retreat Doctors' Hospital in The Fan has been without water and diverting patients since at least Monday night, according to HCA Healthcare spokesperson Wes Hester.
Hester told VPM News on Monday night and Tuesday morning that Retreat Doctors’ didn’t have water, but did not respond to follow-up questions about when it lost water and began diverting patients. He also told VPM News on Monday that Chippenham Hospital — one of the area’s two Level I trauma centers — was operating, despite water pressure issues.
VCU Health’s locations in the city are under “emergency operations” because of the water disruptions, a spokesperson told VPM News in an email.
“We are working to ensure that all essential operations continue in order to minimize patient disruptions,” the spokesperson added. “We greatly appreciate every team member's dedication to our patients during this challenging time.”
VCU Health said procedures were canceled and clinics were closed Tuesday due to the continued boil water advisory and lasting impact of the winter storm. (Updates on when facilities will reopen will be posted on the VCU Health alert page)
All endoscopies and elective surgeries scheduled for Tuesday at multiple VCU Health facilities — VCU Medical Center Main Hospital, Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, Ambulatory Care Center and the Stony Point Campus — were canceled Tuesday and will need to be rescheduled.
Outpatient diagnostic testing and imaging at several VCU Health facilities were also canceled.
All ambulatory clinics in downtown Richmond under the VCU Health umbrella — including the outpatient clinics at the Virginia Treatment Center for Children and Brook Road campus of Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU — were also closed Tuesday.
Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital hasn’t had water since Monday evening, impacting all of the East End hospital’s operations, a spokesperson wrote in a 2 p.m. Tuesday email.
Bon Secours is considering “sourcing external water solutions” for Richmond Community Hospital, according to the spokesperson. The hospital is on diversion, has stopped transfers, is facilitating discharges that are appropriate and giving water bottles to patients and staff.
The water at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital was temporarily out Monday afternoon but was later restored, and the hospital resumed normal operations by 7 p.m. Monday.
“A market-wide incident command remains in effect, and we are working collaboratively with our Bon Secours sister hospitals across the market to continue caring for our patients during this time,” the Bon Secours spokesperson wrote in an email.
During a Tuesday press conference, Henrico officials shared that the county gave water to the emergency department at VCU Medical Center, the area’s other Level I trauma center, and to Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital.
The Patient First in Carytown — 12 N. Thompson St. — was closed Tuesday due to the city’s water crisis, a spokesperson told VPM News. Patient First hopes to have an update on the Carytown location later in the day; all other Patient First urgent care centers in Richmond are open.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office said in a statement Tuesday that state agencies have provided support and emergency supplies to the city, including supplying “area hospitals with tanker trucks of water.”
Avula’s administration said the city restored water production around noon Tuesday, but water pressure “will take at least several hours to build up before it can be distributed through the network.”
The city said water tests must first be completed before the boil advisory can be lifted.
City officials have sent out an email that lists safe water usage guidelines, per the Virginia Department of Health:
- Don’t drink tap water for any reason until the advisory is lifted.
- If you must use tap water (for flushing, cooking or cleaning), limit usage as much as possible — and don’t get it in open cuts/wounds or post-surgical incisions. VDH advises that showering people should “avoid getting water in the mouth or swallowing the water” and that infants and small children should be sponge bathed only.
- Don’t drink water from public parks or public or private buildings serviced by the city’s Department of Public Utilities.
- Don’t use ice made from water from today; discard the ice and sanitize the ice machine and its trays, as well as water and ice dispensed from a refrigerator.
