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Middlesex Hospital partially opened after man crashes car into emergency room entrance

MIDDLETOWN —  Middlesex Hospital is creeping back toward full service. The hospital announced that as of 4 p.m., Friday, they would once again be providin...

MIDDLETOWN --  Middlesex Hospital is creeping back toward full service.

The hospital announced that as of 4 p.m., Friday, they would once again be providing emergency care, but only to walk-in patients.

This as a result of heavy fire and structural damage sustained to the emergency department entrance.

On Thursday morning, a 27-year-old Middletown man intentionally crashed the car he was driving through the sliding doors and into the vestibule, before setting himself on fire.

Hospital spokesperson, Amanda Falcone, said in a press release the hospital is still not receiving patients via ambulance, and the hospital’s normal emergency department location in Middletown remains closed until further notice.

"Patients who visit the hospital’s temporary emergency department space should drive to the main entrance of the hospital," said Falcone. "At that point, a security officer will be there to greet them. The officer will then direct them to where they need to go."

The services will be rendered in the outpatient surgical services wing.

If someone is sick or injured, and needs immediate attention, they are asked to call 911. Falcone said an ambulance will then bring patients to the nearest emergency department.

Middlesex Hospital’s other emergency department locations are in Westbrook and Marlborough.

With their primary emergency department closed, a competitor, Hartford Healthcare, had its staff in their new Care Logistics Center in Newington, to offer a helping hand.

"We said what do you need," said Kathleen Race, the Nurse Manager in the HHC Care Logistics Center. "And they said we need patients in our emergency room moved out. So, we did that."

The closest Hartford Healthcare owned hospitals to Middlesex are MidState Medical Center in Meriden and The Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain.

"We got them ready to receive all of the ambulances that would normally be going to Middlesex," Race said. "So, we helped clear out their emergency room and readied our beds upstairs."

As of early Friday evening, Ellam remained in critical condition in the Bridgeport Hospital Burn Unit. Police said the car he was driving was full of gas cans.

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