VU: “Hopes” to re-open hospital next week after water main break

The VU Medical Center in Amsterdam is working very hard to be able to reopen the doors of the hospital for patients next week. Whether this will be possible, depends on the outcome of various tests of the emergency equipment the hospital installed.

Director Wouter Bos said this to the hospital's staff during a staff meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

The hospital had to evacuate all of the more than 300 patients on Tuesday last week after a burst in the water main caused massive flooding in the area and damaged the critical infrastructure of the hospital.

This week the hospital is testing temporary equipment installed to make sure that the hospital infrastructure is working optimally. This mainly concerns the water supply. Electrical equipment and elevators are also being tested, these have been turned off for several days.

A large part of the hospital's doctors and nurses have been working at other hospitals since the evacuation. On Wednesday the hospital is opening a special department in the Sint Lucas Andrreas hospital in order to still be able to treat patients. This department encompasses a separate wing with two operating rooms and 36 beds. It will will be open for two weeks