The Government Stanley Medical College Hospital will run on generators for three days, starting Friday.
This is aimed at facilitating works that will be taken up to replace a 40-year-old ring main gear unit, which supplies electricity to the hospital, and once replaced, will provide power to the newly constructed multi-storey block.
The power supply was suspended from 8 a.m. on Friday till 6 p.m. During this period, all wards in the hospital — including emergency and critical care units — were covered by generators.
Hospital dean S. Geethalakshmi said the surgical block, intensive care units and intermediate care units have also been covered.
“We have inverters ready at places including the zero delay ward, trauma care and IMCU in case of emergency needs. We are equipped to manage during the three days,” she said.
The hospital’s doctors were intimated in advance of the power cut.
“We performed minor surgeries using power supplied by the generators in the morning. We have planned the surgeries in such a way that those of a lesser duration, like half an hour to 45 minutes, can be performed,” a doctor said.
According to officials of the Public Works Department (electrical wing), which has taken up the replacement work, the ring main gear unit, which supplies 11,000 volts for the hospital, is fully damaged.
“It is based on an oil immersion system and had recurrent problems due to oil viscosity. We are replacing the unit as a precautionary measure with the latest technology, a vacuum circuit breaker,” an official said.
He added that temporary power supply had been provided for the entire hospital. “The hospital has five generators and we have outsourced five more generators.”
Once the unit is replaced, work for providing the new building with an electricity connection will commence. “We will take the supply from the new unit,” he said.
