VA Medical Center cleaning up after monsoon storm

Monday's storm caused widespread damage across much of Central Phoenix including the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center where rainwater and strong winds breached the windows.

"Who could expect it? I mean the force of these winds, we would never have expected water to be able to permeate the external window sills," said Don Taylor.

VA medical staff say more than 35 patient rooms experienced water damage from the driving rains.

"Some water kind of seeped up into the walls themselves, and then we looked further and found that the water had blown around the windows and the seals during the direct winds on the west and south sides of the building," said Taylor.

Patients in those rooms were transferred to other rooms, forcing the hospital to cancel some procedures and closing new admissions until the damage can be repaired.

"We're hoping just a few days, if even that. We've got it early enough, we've got dehumidification and fans in there, and isolation of our patients was our first and safety of our patients was our first concern," said Taylor.

Work crews will be there around the clock, trying to figure out the extent of the damage and begin repairs that are needed.

"We're going to be doing assessments all night, and we'll have a team here all night looking at this and getting the rooms dry," he said.

Crews may need to move more patients out of rooms if they find additional water damage. If that happens, they may have to send those patients to another hospital.