You might have heard about a fire this week at Saint Joseph Hospital in Mishawaka. The fire actually happened in the Medical Office Building attached to the hospital.
Saint Joseph Health System President Chris Karam says the small electrical fire started Monday night on the office building’s first floor above the ceiling. As a precautionary measure for an acute care hospital, Karam says the system immediately set up an incident command to ensure the safety of patients and staff.
Karam on Wednesday said the Medical Office Building was still without power. They hoped to have it connected to a mobile generator by Thursday, but most likely that won’t happen until Friday. Karam noted that the health system must rely on the office building’s owner. He said the health system doesn’t own the office building and hasn’t owned it since it was built 15 years ago.
While hospital care hasn’t been affected, Karam said the fire has caused the temporary closure of physician offices, breast center diagnostics, and outpatient MRI’s and pediatric therapy.
"Our teams are reaching out and communicating to the patients to get them rescheduled at alternate sites," Karam said, "and then for physician office visits, we're rescheduling them for Monday or next week."
