Lab tests have revealed mould found at Peel Health Campus is not the toxic variety.
In a statement released on Thursday, the hospital said the mould is of the same variety of mould found in the “general environment” and is “part of a group of very common organisms that grow both indoors in all types of buildings and outdoors as well”.
“The key headlines are that the preliminary results show that we are not seeing anything unexpected in terms of the mould detected, and there is no signs of toxic black mould contamination in the hospital,” a Peel Health Campus spokesperson said.
“This process has been overseen by an expert independent occupational hygienist.”
Following last week’s mould discovery in the air-conditioning system, 32 patients were transferred to other hospitals, a number of operating theatres were closed and the emergency department was open for walk-ins only with ambulances diverted.
Affected areas have since undergone a thorough clean and disinfection process with the hospital confirming they are working to restore services in the coming days.
“Our priority will start turning towards restoring all our clinical services in a staged approach, including opening our emergency department, so that we can get back to normal operations for our patients and staff,” a hospital spokesperson said.
“Over the coming days, we expect to commence reopening areas of the hospital following review and approval by clinical experts. We will keep the community updated as these areas are reopened.”