Published On: October 8, 2024
Updated Statement
Clarification of Therapy Pool Closure
October 8, 2024
We realize the closure of the therapy pool has been difficult for many in our community, and we want to take this opportunity to provide further clarity on why reopening the pool is not a viable option.
The safety and well-being of our patients and staff are our top priorities. The catastrophic failure that occurred in July resulted in severe flooding of the mechanical and high-voltage electrical rooms located directly beneath the pool. These rooms are critical to the safe operation of the entire South Building, which houses some of our most vulnerable patients, including the 34-bed Continuing Care unit, 8-bed Stroke unit, and 7-bed Rehabilitation unit. Additionally, the South Building accommodates a majority of our outpatient clinics, which serves approximately 500 patients every day.
The risk of another failure cannot be ignored. The aging infrastructure, combined with the placement of the pool directly above these essential mechanical and electrical systems, creates an unacceptable level of risk. We are fortunate for the quick action of our maintenance team who prevented a failure of this critical infrastructure in July. A repeat incident could shut down the entire South Building, disrupting care for hundreds of patients and jeopardizing critical hospital operations.
We fully understand the value the therapy pool has provided to our community, especially to the 100 individuals who have maintained memberships and benefited from its services. Our primary responsibility is to safeguard the well-being of our patients, and every decision we make reflects our commitment to ensuring the highest standard of care.
Communication to Talbot Trail Therapy Pool Members
August 27, 2024
The therapy pool, installed in 1990 as part of the South Building construction, has been a valuable resource for various programs and is operated by Talbot Trail, who rents the Therapy Pool space from the hospital. The pool is not utilized by any STEGH inpatient programs or patients. On July 10, a failure occurred in the therapy pool, leading to extensive flooding into critical hospital infrastructure. In response to this incident, the pool was immediately drained and St. Thomas Elgin
General Hospital engaged a third-party mechanical engineer (Chorley and Bisset) to assess the damage and identify the root cause.
We apologize for the delayed response in communicating with you; however, we wanted to ensure due diligence in having a third party engineer assess the situation. This has been completed. The engineer’s report revealed that the aging infrastructure supporting the pool requires substantial investment. It highlighted accelerated equipment degradation due to continued exposure to moisture and chlorinated water in the mechanical spaces, including damage to electrical distribution systems in adjacent areas. The report revealed that the aging infrastructure supporting the pool requires substantial investment of approximately $350,000. At this time, even with extensive and costly repairs, the risk of a future leak cannot be eliminated.
After a thorough review of the incident, careful consideration of the engineer’s findings, and an assessment of the impact on hospital operations, the pool will remain empty to ensure continued safe operations at our hospital.
The decision to leave the pool empty was not made lightly, but was necessary to ensure both fiscal accountability and continued safe operations at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital. The risk of a recurring leak in the mechanical room is too high and the decision to not refill the pool is made prioritizing safe operations and to ensure the highest standards of patient care within our community. We understand the health benefits for those who utilize the therapy pool and we regret this situation.
Sincerely, Karen Davies and Chris Streib
St Thomas Elgin General Hospital President and CEO / Talbot Trail Physiotherapy President