Patients and staff have been relocated from the Epworth Freemasons Hospital, after the East Melbourne facility was flooded with water on Sunday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A pipe burst on the third floor of the Clarendon Street hospital, with water flowing down to the first and second floors and hospital basement.
A decision to evacuate the hospital was made on Sunday evening.
Hospital spokeswoman Colleen Coghlan said 90 patients were moved to other Epworth hospitals.
"All patients and staff are safe and will be evacuated in a calm and orderly manner," she said on Sunday night.
Four patients had already been relocated earlier on Sunday, Ms Coghlan said.
She said the lifts at the Clarendon Street hospital were not yet operational and the patients were being transferred to the Epworth Richmond and Epworth Camberwell hospitals as a precaution.
Thank you SES volunteers, Victoria Police, Ambos, EF staff and above all our patients transferring out sans complaint pic.twitter.com/LUKmZhJcbH — Epworth HealthCare (@epworthnews) December 21, 2014
The hospital evacuation began at 8pm on Sunday and is expected to take four hours.
Ms Coghlan said Monday's surgeries had been cancelled at the Clarendon Street hospital, however most had been rescheduled for the same day at other Epworth facilities.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said non-emergency transport vehicles would be used to transport the patients.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade central district commander Shane Rhodes said emergency services were called just after 3pm on Sunday.
He said "thousands of litres of water" had sprayed from the burst pipe before the incident was brought under control.
Ten MFB vehicles were called to the scene, with firefighters redirecting the flow of water until City West Water shut down the mains supplying the area.
The power was also turned off at the flooded areas.
Firefighters are continuing to pump and remove water from the affected areas of the hospital.
Mr Rhodes said water had flooded downwards, including flowing through light fittings.
He said the third floor had sustained major damage, with the first and second floors also "substantially" damaged.