'Minor emergency' limits hospital access

South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside sustained an equipment malfunction Thursday night that resulted in the temporary restriction of all access and egress at the hospital to patients, visitors and staff, a hospital spokesman said.

Mark Head, the hospital's vice president of external affairs, said that Level 1 emergency procedures were put into effect about 10:30 p.m. A Level 1 emergency is the least serious of the four level classifications, Head said, and the "minor emergency" was resolved within about an hour.

Head said he was unable to give the specifics concerning the equipment malfunction, but although fire fighters responded to the hospital, there was no fire, he said.