Relocations made for Health Sciences Centre restoration

A satellite Health Sciences Book Store will open in the McMaster Health Sciences Centre HSC-1R14 today (Monday, Jan. 3), as major restoration begins after a Dec. 19 flood on the first and second floors of the west side of the centre.

The McMaster Media Production Services group is being moved to HSC-1J11, but operations are not yet resumed.

Staff in other affected areas are expected to move to alternative accommodations beginning today. Although not confirmed, staff of the Computer Services Unit of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) may move to administrative space of the Health Sciences Library; affected staff of the FHS' Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics will move to other areas of the department in the Health Sciences Centre, and affected staff in FHS' administrative area may move to unoccupied areas of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery.

Assessment of the extent of the flood damage, caused by broken pipes, is not yet completed. Restoration will be staged, but may take up to three months.

John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences, praised staff who had to come in during the University closure to assist with the restoration assessment process.

“Book store manager Barry Petrie and his staff, along with the facilities management people for the University, Hamilton Health Sciences and the Faculty, have been working hard to ensure the disruption is minimized,” he said. “I would particularly like to thank Paul Elliott, our administrator, corporate services, for his leadership in this situation.

“We're planning an organized, thorough restoration, but it will a major inconvenience for staff in the affected areas. Everyone's tolerance and flexibility will be much appreciated.”