“I want to assure the community there was no impact to patient care and that the system has returned to operating as per normal,” Park said.
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A spokeswoman for Ramsay Healthcare said in a statement: “Overnight an individual attempted to tamper with mains water and non-medical gas supply to Kareena Private Hospital.”
“All services were quickly restored with minimal disruption and no impact to patient care. The hospital is operating as normal today,” the statement read.
The woman was arrested around 4am on Tuesday and later charged with two counts of public nuisance, two counts of trespassing, and sabotage, destroy or damage property.
She has also been charged with breaching bail, and is accused of tampering with a fire alarm and trespassing at a Darlinghurst hostel on Monday.
The woman has been refused bail to appear at Sutherland Local Court on Wednesday.
Sutherland Hospital, with 360 beds, provides critical services, including an emergency department, cancer treatment, a birthing unit, and respiratory and geriatric care.
Park hailed its staff for the speed with which they recognised the issue and initiated measures to ensure continuity of care for patients.
“Access to gas systems in NSW public hospitals is restricted,” Park said, adding health authorities would review the incident to see what improvements could be implemented.
“If there [are] things we need to do to make it harder or more restrictive, then we will look at that,” he said.
Health Services Union NSW secretary Gerard Hayes said threats facing hospital security were greater and more unpredictable than ever before, and resourcing was not keeping up.
“This incident is yet another warning that we need to properly invest in keeping our hospitals secure,” Hayes said. “We will, of course, wait for the investigation to unfold, but it’s clear that protecting critical infrastructure like medical gas systems must be a priority.”
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