Cancellations climb with cause still unknown
Two weeks after Medicine Hat Regional Hospital discovered a mysterious residue on equipment in the reprocessing and sterilization area, a specific cause has still not been identified.
At least 184 elective surgeries have been postponed so far, with another five possibly being coming today, in order to focus on emergency and urgent surgeries at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
Reprocessing/sterilizing of equipment for MHRH has continued at other AHS facilities in the interim. A contracted service has been used to handle transportation, and this includes very strict guidelines. Local staff from the reprocessing department at MHRH have been going to the other locations to do the work. This also ensures individual trays are packaged according to specific requirements for each surgeon at MHRH.
Water quality experts have been onsite at MHRH to assist with the process of determining the cause, and implementing tests to identify which parts of the system are working optimally, said Katherine Chubbs, chief zone officer for AHS south zone. Chubbs said progress is being made in terms of what is still being tested in an effort to resume regular operations.
There are at least 10 quality-control measures in the sterilization/reprocessing area. The residue issue was identified near the beginning of those stages, which is an indication of the quality control process working well, said Chubbs.
Of the postponed surgeries, Chubbs did not expect a huge delay in rescheduling. Built into the schedule for surgeries are times that are not allocated, and it is these time slots that will help to handle postponements.
AHS is notifying all affected patients, advising of the change to their surgical plan. These patients will also be contacted by their surgeon’s office to reschedule procedures as soon as possible.
By postponing elective surgeries, and having medical devices and materials reprocessed at other sites, AHS has maintained the ability to complete some high-priority procedures, it said in a Tuesday press release. Work continues toward isolating the root cause of the issue, and water-quality testing and monitoring is ongoing.
Affected patients, or patients concerned about this issue, can call site administration at 403-502-8648 (ext. 1509) during regular business hours, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.