SEE SURGERIES

The procedures cover a wide range of surgeries that include nasal reconstruction, hernias and rotator cuff repairs, while the cystoscopies involve the insertion of tiny cameras for urological purposes.

But the spokeswoman for one medical advocacy organization said the AHS must be better prepared for such situations and that the delays are unacceptable.

“How does this get to the point where you need to postpone and put people’s lives on hold?” said Sandra Azocar of Friends of Medicare.

“It’s a huge issue when you expect the health system to be there for you and it fails in this manner.”

She said it’s not the first time patients have been affected by problems over surgical instrument sterilization.

How does this get to the point where you need to postpone and put people’s lives on hold? It’s a huge issue when you expect the health system to be there ... and it fails.

Three years ago, parts were found missing from three machines used to disinfect endoscopes at the Peter Lougheed Centre after 35 patients had undergone gastrointestinal procedures, potentially exposing them to HIV.

Officials at the time called that an unanticipated problem. Practises were tightened up after widespread sterilization problems were found at Vegreville hospital in 2008.

Calgary Liberal MLA Dr. David Swann said once the washer problems were discovered, the AHS likely had little recourse but to delay procedures.

But the need for the move “is a failure of preventative maintenance — it should be a warning bell across the province,” he added.

Patients who’ve recently undergone procedures at Rockyview shouldn’t be concerned with safety, as issues with equipment were identified during preventive maintenance testing, said Viner.

“It’s kind of like checking the brake pads on your car — you need to replace them but it’s not going to be fatal,” he said.

The procedures affected were scheduled Oct. 23 to Nov. 2 and Nov. 17 to Nov. 29.

Equipment upgrades will occur across all surgical areas and the hospital will work with the South Health Campus to ensure instruments are sterilized during that time, said the AHS.