Some heart patients to be sent to London, Detroit after flooding at Windsor lab

Windsor Regional Hospital says its cardiac catheterization lab — which is used in heart attack cases as well as for outpatient procedures — will be closed at least until the end of July due to Friday's flood.

Anyone who would normally receive treatment through the lab, including emergency cases, will be sent to other hospitals, Windsor Regional said in a release Tuesday.

"Based on historical numbers, we anticipate as many as 50 inpatients as well as 12 emergency cases would need to be transferred" to centres in Detroit and London, Ont., in July, the hospital said.

The hospital said the flooding, which brought 76 millimetres of rain to Windsor on Friday, affected the basement and sub-basement area of the Ouellette Campus, where the lab and its equipment are held.

About 40 people scheduled for non-urgent procedures are being notified.

Cardiac catheterization involves inserting a small tube into a vein or artery, including for the treatment and diagnosis of heart conditions.