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YOUNGSTOWN -- Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital had to divert patients to other facilities for a time Sunday morning after subzero temperatures affected the air handling system, causing its laboratory to flood.
According to a hospital news release, water entered the hospital about 5 a.m. Sunday, damaging some equipment.
"The lab shutdown was caused by coils within the air handling system had frozen because of the subzero temperatures. The laboratory is the primary site for a variety of diagnostic and specimen testing for Mercy Health's three area hospitals, including St. Joseph Warren Hospital.
St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital began accepting patients again at 1:05 p.m., according to hospital spokeswoman Carrie A. Kandes, after key lab equipment was repaired.
Kandes said the lab conducts chemistry, immunochemistry and automating chemistry testing, which leads to diagnosis and treatment of traumas and medical emergencies.
According to Donald E. Koenig Jr., chief operating officer of Mercy Health, the hospital mobilized a disaster team to put into effect its contingency plans. Some testing and staffing was relocated to the lab at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital during the diversion, Koenig said.
"Our team worked to restore operations as quickly as possible," he said.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna reached a low of minus 11 degrees at 3:52 a.m. Sunday, just one degree short of the record low temperature of minus 12 degrees set in 2014.
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