Plumas District Hospital hopes to be operational again sometime Tuesday

When the power went out in Quincy this afternoon, July 19, the backup generator at Plumas District Hospital didn’t perform as needed.

As a result, hospital leaders began to divert patients. An announcement was posted on social media and the hospital’s website, that alerted individuals who were experiencing a medical emergency, that they should call 911 and not go directly to the hospital’s emergency room.

Then, with the advice of the California Department of Public Health, the hospital diverted its seven in-hospital patients — one went to Eastern Plumas Health Care, five went to a skilled nursing facility in Red Bluff, and one chose to leave the hospital and not receive care elsewhere.

CEO JoDee Read and COO Darren Beatty were at the hospital late this evening overseeing the transfers. They said that tomorrow morning PG&E will bring a backup generator to the hospital so that it can reopen, while a technician diagnoses and fixes the hospital’s generator.

Yes, the power came back on this evening, but Read said that it’s critical that the hospital have a working backup generator in case the power goes out again, which is almost assured during fire season. “The last thing I want to do is fill the hospital up with people and have this happen again,” she said.

When asked if the generator was fixable or if the hospital might need a new generator, Beatty said he was optimistic that it could be fixed given what he understands of the issue. A new generator — capable of running a hospital — would be a major project and be very costly.

“I think we will be operational again tomorrow,” Read said, but didn’t want to give an exact time.

In the meantime, any patients who call 911 would be diverted to a hospital that could accept them such as Eastern Plumas or Renown.