Updated at 9:05 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6
Following water line leaks last week, chilled water services have been successfully restored to most buildings on the Omaha medical center campus, including the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Kiewit Tower, Hixson-Lied and others.
Medical center Facilities Management and Planning teams continue to work to repair one remaining leak interrupting normal chilled water service to Eppley Science Hall, Poynter Hall and Eppley Cancer Institute, but alternative water sources have been connected to those buildings. These sources will remain in place until chilled water services are restored.
UNMC researchers and public safety officers continue to monitor ultralow freezers in research buildings that may be potentially impacted by this event. The Facilities Controls team also continues to monitor imaging equipment as well as building temperatures. As of Saturday night, normal research operations have resumed in all campus buildings except Eppley Science Hall, Poynter Hall and Eppley Cancer Institute. A specific updated communication has been emailed to individuals working in these three buildings.
UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, praised the work of the facilities management and planning workers, as well as the medical center leaders and departments who supported them in their efforts.
“This challenge provided an example of how the medical center’s dedication to its clinical, research and education mission transcends departments and even organizations,” Dr. Gold said. “I am in awe of the commitment and efforts of the UNMC and Nebraska Medicine facilities team, who have worked heroically and without rest to address this issue since Thursday night. We cannot thank them enough for their efforts.”
Nebraska Medical Center will resume normal clinical operations Monday morning. Work will be ongoing over the next few days to complete repairs and resume regular chilled water services to the remaining affected buildings.
Updated 10:10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6
As of 11 p.m. Saturday night, chilled water services were successfully restored to some buildings on the Omaha medical center campus, including the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
Nebraska Medical Center has the all-clear to resume normal clinical operations Monday morning. The water leak had required the delay of some procedural, surgical and MRI appointments.
Alternative water sources remain connected to other affected buildings, including Eppley Science Hall, Poynter Hall and Eppley Cancer Institute, and researchers should continue to monitor freezers in these buildings. The Facilities Controls team also is monitoring freezers and building temperatures. Normal research operations can resume in all buildings except Eppley Science Hall and Eppley Cancer Institute, where freezers still should not be opened unless absolutely necessary.
Medical center Facilities Management and Planning teams have been working around the clock since Thursday night to repair the two leaks that required shutting down chilled water operations to several buildings at one point.
While the initial repairs were successful at the site near Durham Research Center, which supports clinical operations, additional work is ongoing over the next few days to complete repairs at the site near Eppley Cancer Institute.
Watch UNMC Today and the UNMC Intranet for further updates.
Updated 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5
Repairs continue today to restore chilled water services to several buildings on the Omaha campus.
As of 6:30 p.m. Saturday, chilled water was in the process of being restored to some of the affected buildings, including areas with ultralow freezers that store research materials. To maintain continuity of operations, alternative water sources remain connected to other affected buildings.
Researchers are being asked not to open ultralow freezers in the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, the Eppley Cancer Institute and Eppley Science Hall, unless necessary, and to continue to monitor freezers in these buildings throughout the weekend.
If everything proceeds as expected, Nebraska Medical Center could return to normal clinical operations Monday morning; some appointments and procedures had been postponed as a result of the disruption.
Since late Thursday, UNMC Facilities Management and Planning teams have been working around the clock to repair two water main leaks that required shutting down chilled water operations to several buildings. The cause of the leaks remains under investigation.
Updates will be sent to the campus community as needed.
Updated 6:05 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4
Repair work continues tonight on the Omaha campus following two water main leaks that impacted chilled water delivery to several buildings on campus Friday.
UNMC facilities teams worked throughout Thursday night and Friday to repair the leaks and ensure water flow to the affected buildings. As of 6 p.m. Friday, alternative water sources have been connected to buildings to maintain continuity of operations; chilled water has been restored incrementally across campus, and cooling of ultralow freezers, which store research materials, has been maintained.
At this time, there is no anticipated impact to work or class schedules, although researchers are encouraged to keep a close eye on freezer temperatures.
Facilities will have teams monitoring freezer and water temperatures in research areas continually throughout the weekend, and updates will be sent to the campus community as needed.
UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, expressed his gratitude to the facilities teams responding to the event, as well as the UNMC leaders and departments that are supporting them.
Original posting at 6:57 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.
Thursday night, at 8:15 p.m., a leak in the main chilled water line serving the UNMC campus was discovered near Eppley Science Hall. This resulted in water in the lower floors of several nearby buildings. To mitigate the leak, the chilled water was shut down, which affected the following buildings:
- Poynter Hall
- Eppley Cancer Institute
- Eppley Science Hall
- Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
- Durham Outpatient Center
- University Tower 1 to 4
- Clarkson Tower
- College of Nursing
- Williams Science Hall
- Lied Transplant Center
- Specialty Services Pavilion
The primary concern was to systems requiring water cooling, such as ultralow freezers. Alternative water sources have been connected to buildings to maintain continuity of operations; chilled water has been restored incrementally across campus.
The leak will prompt the closure of the linear accelerators in the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and several MRI machines Friday morning. Patients are being prioritized for MRIs and some patient appointments will be rescheduled. Because the water outage is also affecting the heating and cooling in several buildings, some surgical cases are being delayed.
The outage has also closed one of the B elevators in University Tower.
All emergency, clinic and inpatient care is proceeding normally.
This leak is not related to the city water main that broke along 42nd Street on Friday, Oct. 28. Facilities began working to repair a valve overnight in the courtyard between University Tower and Eppley Science Hall.
If you received an alarm notice overnight and have additional questions, email eric.payton@unmc.edu. Please document damage to any equipment with photos and reach out to research@unmc.edu immediately if you need backup ultralow storage.