If there ever was a good time to have a mandated water usage ban at the MGH Institute’s Charlestown Navy Yard campus, this is the week for it.

Normally, the Boston health sciences graduate school would have hundreds of nursing, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology students in class with their professors. But most people are off campus this week as the school prepares for its 30th Commencement ceremony this Saturday, May 8.

The water ban was instituted over the weekend after a water main broke at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s Weston, MA treatment facility. The incident triggered Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to issue a state of emergency for as many as 2 million people living in the Greater Boston area.

The water has been deemed not safe for drinking unless it has been boiled, but people can use it to bathe.

On campus, the water supply has been shut down to prevent any possible contamination. People can purchase bottled water from the vending machines in Building 36, while the nearby Store 24 has bottled water as well.

Signs have been posted throughout the Institute’s three buildings reminding staff of the water restrictions:

• Do not drink any water that comes from the tap, faucets, or drinking fountains in the school's three buildings;
• Do not use tap water for oral hygiene, including rinsing the mouth or brushing teeth;
• Do not use tap water to make coffee or tea;
• Do not consume any ice from hospital ice machines;
• Do not use water from insta-hot dispensers; and
• After washing hands with soap and water, use Cal-stat to ensure that hands are disinfected.

MGH Institute of Health Professions, founded by Massachusetts General Hospital in 1977, is an innovative and independent graduate school that operates within the framework of Partners HealthCare System. A progressive leader in developing comprehensive models of health care education, the MGH Institute prepares advanced practice professionals in the fields of nursing, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and medical imaging through a distinctive combination of academic study, clinical practice, and research. More than 900 students are enrolled in graduate level and certificate programs, with an increasing number of courses available online. The Institute is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

MGH Institute of Health Professions
Charlestown Navy Yard
36 1st Avenue
Boston, MA 02129

John Shaw
Marketing & Communications Manager
MGH Institute of Health Professions
jshaw@mghihp.edu
617-726-4276

This release was published on openPR.