As many as 600 surgeries will be moved or rescheduled after part of the ceiling at the Clinton Public Hospital started to crumble.

The problems were discovered on the second floor of the hospital in mid-December when the old lathe and plaster ceiling started to crumble down into the sub-ceiling.

The crumbling ceiling is in an area adjacent to the hospital’s operating rooms, so concerns over infection control and patient and staff safety led to the decision to close those operating rooms while the repair work is done.

That work is expected to last 12 weeks.

As a result, 500 of the 600 surgeries scheduled during that period - mostly cataract and endoscopes - have been moved to the Stratford General Hospital.

The remaining surgeries will have to be postponed until the work is done, which should be late March or early April.