Electric generators and outpatient visits cancelled: Barcelona Vall d'Hebron hospital during power outage

Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron hospital has switched on its electric generators and canceled outpatient visits on Monday during the power outage. 

The autonomous system can sustain the largest hospital in Catalonia for around 40 hours and allows operating rooms, ICUs, and other emergency services to remain operational.

According to sources at the hospital, it currently prioritizes urgent activities and has cancelled all outpatient visits for the day, as well as all non-essential activities until further notice. 

The hospital hallways and waiting rooms have been emptied throughout the morning, after it was confirmed that the power outage would not be immediately fixed.

A contingency plan has been activated, and the hospital assured that the situation is under control.

Meanwhile, pharmacies are trying to protect medicine in fridges and warn that they can only keep them for "four or five hours," Núria Franquesa, from Barcelona's Franquesa pharmacy in Rosselló street.

Dependent people

Dependent and disabled people attend in hospitals for the power outage to end and call for experts to give them "priority" to be able to move around.

"People who have to return home with a wheelchair or ambulances cannot move," Anna, who accompanied her mother to the Hospital Clínic, told Catalan News Agency (ACN).

Alba went to the primary care health center with her mother, and now they cannot return home, as they both live on a third floor.

"We asked for some assistant to help us, but they told us it cannot be possible as they are not allowed to leave the hospital," she said to the ACN.