BEND, OR -- A blocked sewer pipe at St. Charles Bend caused a leak and disrupted some hospital services for a short time, Tuesday. "We had a blockage in one of the pipes that takes sewage out from our main patient tower of the building, and recognized that when we started having leakage in one of our departments," says Chief Nursing Officer Debbie Robinson, "So, we identified where it was and we cleared it. At this point, we're back to normal operations."

The leakage occurred in the department where the autoclave is housed and surgical instruments are sanitized. Robinson tells KBND News, "We are making alternate plans to have our instruments cleaned at our Redmond campus and also local surgery centers are going to help us out. But, we are looking at our O.R. cases and figuring out what we can support and what we can reschedule over the next couple of days."