Four hurt as Serdang Hospital ceiling again collapses

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai point to parts of the Serdang Hospital ceiling after the collapse in January 2011.—File pic

SERDANG, Aug 13 — Three nurses and a female medical officer at the Serdang Hospitals’ Emergency Department were injured when 15 ceiling pieces measuring 2 ft x 2 ft each collapsed at 2.45am today.

The hospital’s director, Datuk Dr Ardi Awang, said the initial investigation found the incident happened after a screw holding the ceiling pieces together came off, sending the pieces crashing down.

“At that time, three nurses and a female medical officer were at work at the nurses’ counter while the patients were in their respective rooms.

“One of the nurses received stitches for her hand injury while the rest were injured on their head and back, but not seriously,” he told reporters after visiting the scene of the incident.

He said the injured were given outpatient treatment and returned to their duties after that.

Dr Ardi said the repair work to the ceiling was carried out from 8am to 4pm without affecting the Emergency Department’s operation.

He said no hospital equipment was damaged in the mishap except for a device for viewing X-ray pictures.

“We are still investigating to find out the actual cause of the incident and checking on the other areas of the hospital to avoid such an incident,” he added.

This was the second such incident at Serdang Hospital which has been operating since December 2005, after the first incident involving the ceiling at the main lobby, which collapsed in January last year. — Bernama