Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta is the largest hospital in Georgia. It is staffed by 3,000 physicians representing 80 medical specialties. It is also one of the nation’s foremost trauma centers. However, on the afternoon of December 7, 2019, the hospital suffered a trauma that it was not equipped to handle.
On that day, a 24-inch waterpipe on the sixth floor of the hospital’s west tower burst, spewing water that heavily damaged the floors below, rendering 200 patient rooms and elevators useless. The hospital’s emergency room was shut down and hundreds of the hospital’s most urgent cases were sent to other medical facilities.