University of Kentucky Good Samaritan Hospital was forced to divert emergency room patients and partially evacuate Sept. 24 after a chemical spill, The Lexington Herald Leader reports.
A small amount of phenol, a common chemical in hospitals that is corrosive and toxic, was spilled in the basement pharmacy of the Lexington hospital around 5:40 a.m.
Hospital staff in the basement were evacuated, and the ER diverted patients for several hours.
Five people were in the basement during the spill. Hospital workers in the room were sprayed off, and about a dozen emergency room workers were monitored as a precaution.
The hospital was fully functioning by 9 a.m.