Patients and staff at a Victorian regional hospital were left in the dark after a power outage knocked out the lights, computer and phone systems and forced the cancellation of some medical services.
Latrobe Regional Hospital, at Traralgon, south-east of Melbourne, transferred two patients to other hospitals, cancelled radiotherapy services and surgery, and managers arranged for dialysis patients to be treated elsewhere.
The hospital said an electrical fault in a switchboard was to blame for the problem.
About 80 patients in the main building were without lighting and air conditioning on Friday.
The power was restored early on Saturday morning.
Staff were carrying out their duties by torchlight on Friday night.
The hospital's acting chief executive Amanda Cameron described the situation as "very serious".
"We have no lighting at the moment, there's no air conditioning to that section of the hospital and we haven't been able to have our [operating] theatre," she said.
"It's very serious and we've been working all day to rectify the situation.
"We're very hopeful that later this evening we'll be on generator power … which will provide air conditioning, lighting and essential power."
Visitors discouraged
Ms Cameron says it could take up to two weeks to repair the damaged switchboard, but generator power would allow the hospital to continue to offer most services.
The hospital has undergone extensive renovations in recent years but the new emergency department that opened three weeks ago has not been affected.
