Miami VA Healthcare halts elective surgeries amid A/C failure, excessive heat warnings

Ian Margol, Reporter

MIAMI – Elective surgeries have been temporarily suspended at the Miami VA Healthcare System due to a malfunctioning air conditioning unit.

Local 10 News spoke with Riezl Paraiso, an associate director of Miami’s VA Chapter of the National Nurses United, who said the A/C has been a continuous problem that is affecting patients and staff members.

“This is not a one-time problem, it has been going on. VA has to invest in their infrastructure,” said Paraiso. If the VA doesn’t invest their money (and) if the VA doesn’t invest in their veterans on this facility, it’s going to happen over and over again.”

Following an excessive heat warning and another hot day in South Florida, hospital staff expressed their concern about the A/C systems.

“They closed two floors--the 12 cd and the 11 cd and moved the patients basically scattered around the hospital,” Paraiso added.

According to the VA, one of the facility’s primary chillers went offline while workers conducted a routine clean-up. Nurses told Local 10 that this incident marked the second time that the heat caused patients to be moved around.

In response to Local 10 News’ request for information on the latest incident, the VA released the following statement:

“To mitigate any potential risk and out of an abundance of caution, some patients were moved within the facility for their comfort and safety. The movement of patients is in line with our contingency emergency management plans and has not disrupted the high-quality, patient-centered care we provide at the Miami VA Healthcare System.”

In late June, Local 10 News reported on a new chiller breaking down at the Community Living Center of the hospital which forced nearly two dozen residents to be located to different parts of the facility.

At the time, a new chiller was emergency ordered and installed, and Kalautie JangDhari, the Director of the Miami VA, said they were doing everything they could to keep people safe.

“We had spot coolers that we brought in — those are those huge air conditioning units that are pretty amazing. They cool things down very quickly,” said JangDhari.

Local 10 News asked if Tuesday’s incident was the same chiller that was ordered back in June and was told it is not and the new order is for a different part of the facility.

It is unclear how many people have been moved for safety purposes and how long it will take for the A/C unit to be fixed.

The VA Nurses Union told Local 10 News on Thursday it will take three months to open the closed floors in the hospital.

MIAMI