Some 26 surgeries affected as power supply of Kwong Wah Hospital interrupted

The electricity supply system of Kwong Wah Hospital was temporarily interrupted on Wednesday night, causing one surgery to be transferred to an unaffected operating theater and 25 non-urgent surgeries to be postponed. 

The power interruption incident occurred around 7 pm. The hospital said it immediately arranged emergency repair and the electricity supply of the operating theaters resumed at about 7.50 pm. 

One surgery needed to be transferred to another unaffected operating theater and about 25 elective operations originally scheduled for Thursday morning were postponed. 

“The hospital has arranged a comprehensive check up of the electricity supply system. As a precautionary measure, services of some operating theaters need to be suspended temporarily for further checking,” it said. 

The hospital said it is contacting the affected patients and all other clinical services in the hospital, including emergency operations, in-patient services, and accident and emergency services remain unaffected. 

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the incident was not a medical blunder but a technical issue. Still, the quality of work of the technicalities can still affect healthcare services, he noted. 

The hospital and the Hospital Authority have established a dedicated task force to probe the incident. 

Lo also said although there is backup power in the operating room to ensure the electricity supply won’t be disturbed, the non-urgent surgeries this morning were canceled to conduct a power check.