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LAKEWOOD, Colo. — CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood is preparing for potential public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) that could affect hundreds of patients.
On Tuesday, hospital president Kevin Cullinan showed Denver7 the massive generators that would keep the emergency room and core hospital services up and running during a power outage.
However, Cullinan said these backup systems will not supply power to the outpatient clinics. These are the locations where most CommonSpirit patients receive care for routine or specialized medical needs.
“I think some people are assuming that just because the hospital has a generator, that everything here is going to be fine,” he said. “That’s not the case.”
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The generators won’t power the clinics that offer services such as physical therapy, primary care, and even radiation treatments.
Cullinan explained that hundreds of patients would have their appointments canceled if Xcel Energy triggers the PSPS in this part of Jefferson County.
“We’ll get them rescheduled as soon as we possibly can. But the impact will be dramatic,” he said.
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Xcel Energy’s latest update indicates that 50,000 customers in Boulder, Clear Creek, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld counties are likely to be affected by potential shutoffs.
MORE | Stay up to date on outages and closures with Denver7’s weather blog
Despite significant disruption to patient care, Cullinan expressed support for the utility company’s safety measures, saying his staff will do their best to reschedule and support patients.
“If they believe that the risk is high enough, that this is the right thing to do, then we’re going to try and be good community partners…,” he said.
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Claire Lavezzorio
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