The Lawrence Memorial Hospital Emergency Room filled up and was forced to divert patients to other area hospitals Thursday, March 3, 2016.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital became full Thursday night for the first time in the memory of long-term staffers, according to a news release.

Beds on the medical, surgical, pediatrics and intensive care units of LMH were all full, said Janice Early, vice president of marketing and communications, in the release. Thirteen patients were transferred from LMH’s emergency department to Topeka and Kansas City-area hospitals.

The Kansas University Hospital was also on diversion at the time and not accepting transfers, Early said.

She said there was no single contributing factor. Patient diagnoses included flu, norovirus, Respiratory Syncytial Virus and a variety of other illnesses, critical and non-critical. The hospital was staffed well enough to handle all patient care.

At 4 a.m. Friday, the hospital returned to business as usual, Early said. She said even for long-term staffers, going back at least 35 years, this was the first time the hospital has been on diversion.

Early said patient volumes at the hospital are now slightly lower and there is no concern about a reoccurrence.