Vermont hospital halts surgeries amid sterilization issues

Northwestern Medical Center is temporarily pausing surgeries as it investigates small particulate matter found on sterilized surgical trays. 

In an Aug. 19 post on its website, the St. Albans, Vt.-based hospital said it is working to address “very small particulates” surgical services team members have found during routine safety checks before surgery.

“This isn’t an issue of sterility with the surgical trays or instruments  — our regular testing show that the trays are properly sterilized,” the hospital said. “When particles have been identified, those trays have not been used.” 

Northwestern Medical Center is working with Steris, a company that manufactures and services surgical equipment, to investigate and remediate the issue, which may be related to the hospital’s water source. The hospital said it is “looking at each step in the process to isolate the source.” During the surgery pause, the hospital is replacing surgical trays and installing a reverse osmosis system to remove potential water impurities.

Employees are notifying patients whose procedure may be affected by the delays.

“We will bring surgeries back online when we are confident that the solution has been fully implemented and the problem will not recur,” Northwestern Medical Center said. 

Other hospitals have faced similar sterilization-related disruptions in recent years, where surgery pauses were triggered by malfunctioning machinery. The issues come as some healthcare facilities grapple with aging infrastructure and a shortage of sterile processing staff. 

The post Vermont hospital halts surgeries amid sterilization issues appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.