It was a tale of two failed boilers.

A fiasco involving a couple of boilers that malfunctioned within a couple of weeks of one another shut down services and had ambulances transporting sick patients from AdventHealth Porter in South Denver Monday. Teams of organizers found beds for 55 patients due to the lack of heat and hot water for steam to sterilize surgical equipment.

Around 30 other patients were deemed healthy enough to be discharged.

Originally, the target date for AdventHealth Porter to be up and running again was this Thursday, but that deadline was scrapped and postponed until Monday, according to AdventHealth Porter CEO Todd Folkenberg.

Monday, teams of ambulances transported ailing people from their beds at AdventHealth Porter to partners in Littleton, Castle Rock and Parker — where they were treated thanks to multiple teams which organized the transport.

Nurses and doctors from the other hospitals stepped up to assist the urgent situation and a hospital administrator said that there were no adverse health effect with any patients.

Folkenberg said that one boiler went down two weeks ago, and while they were waiting for a back-up to replace that one, “Murphy’s Law kicked in.” That’s when the second — and only — remaining operating boiler which was supplying hot water and heat for the building shut down due to morning’s cold snap.

“The last time we had a situation like this was when we had a downshift of surgeries during COVID,” said Folkenberg, who added that they were better prepared for this week’s patient transport because “COVID has taught us all a few new lessons.”

Ironically, a fourth brand new boiler which AdventHealth Porter ordered in Aug. 2021 during COVID has been sitting in the hospital building, but it’s been inoperative while parts are still being manufactured for it, according to Folkenberg.

He said that the boilers, which are the size of a truck, are not only a source of heat for the hospital, but the steam from them are used to sterilize surgical instruments.

The temporary boiler was due to arrive in Denver at AdventHealth Tuesday night.

South Metro Fire Rescue and EMS personnel used ambulances to help hospital staff evacuate patients to the other facilities.

The hospital said the outage only affects the Porter campus at 2525 S. Downing St. The shutdown has not affected the medical office buildings at 850 and 950 E. Harvard or the Porter Medical Plaza at 2535 S. Downing St., which remain open and operational.

An incident command has been set up at the hospital, and it’s closed to new patients. The emergency room remains closed as well.

“The good news is this is a lot different than a natural disaster where you may have to evacuate a hospital and you have 90 minutes to do it,” Folkenberg said. “This is — I know it feels chaotic, but it’s actually a very reasonable timeline for us to basically take care of this over the course of today.”

Hospital officials said in a news release that the leadership team “is working to determine staffing needs for the next few days. Clinical teams will deploy out to sister facilities to support patient needs as required.”