The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is temporarily shutting down its phone lines overnight while engineers complete a generator switchover project.
Power to the phone system will be shut down from Wednesday at 11pm, with the outage likely lasting until Thursday at 7am.
Professional Practice Team Lead Betty Oldershaw reassures residents that back up phone lines will still be available for callers to reach the hospital.
"Families can actually call in on that line if they need to find out about their loved one that's in the hospital. We also have a line at switchboard that all incoming calls will be transferred to that power fail phone," explains Oldershaw.
Oldershaw says callers should expect some delays, as power fail phones operate similar to landline phones.
"There may be a busy signal because there isn't that capability of holding the next call and then answering it. They'll just have to, unfortunately, call back in a couple of minutes," she says.
Oldershaw adds that the hospital will have to rely on downtime procedures and paper-based processes for departments affected by the power outage, including the technology and IT departments.
Lights located outside the Public General Hospital wing, located on the northwest side of the building, will also be affected during the power outage. CKHA will be providing extra security guards during this time to escort families, visitors, and staff to their vehicles by request.
