Paphos hospital flooded during storms

The thalassaemia ward and the cardiology laboratory at the Paphos general hospital flooded on Saturday night during storms which hit the town.

The hospital’s director Spyros Georgiou told the Cyprus News Agency the floods had been caused by “torrential rain” but moved to offer reassurances that no patients were “endangered” by the flood.

He said the services offered at the thalassaemia ward and the cardiology laboratory were “immediately moved” to another part of the hospital, and that a cleaning operation was commenced in the area, but admitted that the flow of water inside the hospital building is continuing.

He added that a “general cleaning operation” will be undertaken on Sunday morning, and that off-duty staff would be called in to ensure the hospital’s operations continue uninterrupted throughout the day.

“This was an act of God which was unforeseeable,” he said.

The hospital was then visited by government spokesman and Paphos native Konstantinos Letymbiotis on Saturday night. He said that state health services organisation (Okypy) executive director Kypros Stavrides would also visit the hospital on Sunday with the aim of recording all the damage caused.

Once this has been done, Letymbiotis said, “all the necessary measures will be taken to bring the affected areas back into operation as soon as possible, and to repair all the damage.”

Asked about the cause of the flood, he said he had been informed that some of the hospital’s gutters had been blocked and that as such, water found its way inside the building’s upper floors.

He did also note that the amount of rain which fell was “particularly heavy”, and said it was “fortunate that the patients on the wards were not affected”.

He also said Health Minister Michael Damianos would visit the hospital on Sunday, with Damianos saying on Friday night that he was “saddened” by the flood.

“I requested that Okypy record the points of danger in all hospitals with the aim of immediately repairing them and ensuring their operation. Patients’ safety was, is, and will remain our main priority,” he said.