STATEMENT: The Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) advises that Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) experienced an unexpected power outage today at approximately 4:45 p.m., compounded by a failure in the facility’s backup generator systems. The disruption was limited to the areas known as medical and surgical blocks; and did not affect the critical care block.
Power was restored by Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) at 6:17 p.m., and all hospital systems are now fully operational.
There was no direct impact to patient care. All clinical teams remained available and responsive throughout the outage. One patient in the medical area who required critical care and was on a ventilator remained safely supported on the ventilator’s backup battery. There were no negative outcomes reported. While visiting hours were briefly delayed, additional time was granted to relatives and loved ones once power was restored.
Executive Management has launched a comprehensive risk assessment to evaluate any potential operational impacts and to further strengthen the hospital’s power resiliency.
As part of corrective measures, a new backup battery has been installed, tested, and is now fully functional, with an additional battery secured to provide multiple layers of redundancy. Importantly, backup power systems in the hospital’s critical care areas remained fully operational throughout the event.
The PHA assures the public that this matter is being addressed with the highest priority and remains firmly committed to safeguarding patient safety and operational reliability. We extend our sincere apologies to patients, visitors, and staff for the disruption and any concern this incident may have caused.
