COOPERSTOWN - Smoke caused the emergency department at Bassett Medical Center to be temporarily evacuated Sunday morning.
Bassett officials tell NewsChannel 2 a light ballast blew, causing smoke in the emergency department before 10:00 A.M.. Staff evacuated patients in order to ventilate the affected area. Officials say they were able to take care of the patients who were in the emergency department at the time of the incident after moving them to another location on the medical center campus.
Officials say the emergency department did not take any additional patients until repairs were made and the facility was returned to normal, which took until about 3:00 P.M..
During the five plus hours the emergency department was not accepting new patients, local emergency responders were notified to take all patients to other area hospitals.
