Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital To Reopen Tuesday, Jan. 18 After Marshall Fire
LOUISVILLE, Colo. (CBS4) - Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital has plans to reopen next week after closing during the Marshall Fire. The hospital was evacuated on Dec. 30, 2021 and will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
The hospital was not damaged by the fire, but smoke damage affected the interior of the building. The hospital has been undergoing extensive professional cleaning 24 hours a day with 100 workers from Servpro and an industrial hygienist.
The fire destroyed more than 1,000 structures, most of them homes in Louisville, Superior and Boulder. Staff will be allowed to return to the hospital before patients in order to prepare and also take a moment to reflect and reconnect. A dozen Avista employees lost their homes to the fire and others suffered a partial loss.
Centura-Avista officials say the hospital's air quality is in excellent condition and ready for the first patients to return on Tuesday. All air filtration systems were replaced and more than 200 air scrubbers have been operating 24 hours a day and 7 days a week since the fire.
The cleanup also includes extensive testing of air and water quality, extensive wipe-downs of every surface and testing of all equipment.
"When we reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 18, our patients can be certain that our hospital is 100 percent safe and fully ready to serve them," said Isaac Sendros, CEO of Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital in a statement. "Our Avista teams and professional cleaning partners are working tirelessly to clean every inch of our building, and our caregivers and I are excited to welcome our communities back and extend our healing Mission as we have since 1896."
Employees were able to stop flames from reaching the liquid oxygen tanks near the hospital using hoses and buckets of water. They also shut down air systems inside the hospital just minutes after detecting smoke which saved the building from more significant smoke damage.
"As wonderful as our reopening will be for our Avista ministry and community, we are sensitive to our colleagues who have suffered losses from the fire and the hundreds of neighbors whose homes burned while the hospital was spared," Sendros said in a statement. "We will continue to keep them in our prayers and support them during rebuilding."
All 51 patients were evacuated in less than 2 hours with all caregivers evacuating safely after. Among those patients, 21 were discharged home and 30 were transferred to other Centura Health hospitals.
