Sterilization problems force St. Mary’s to skip surgeries
Hundreds of scheduled operations have been cancelled at St. Mary’s Hospital after surgeons last week discovered black dust on instruments that had just been sterilized, the Montreal Gazette has learned.
Until the problem is fixed, the Côte-des-Neiges institution is borrowing trays of clean surgical instruments from other local hospitals so that St. Mary’s surgeons can continue “to cover emergencies,” a spokesperson said in a statement released Tuesday.
Although St. Mary’s became aware of the problem on Oct. 28, it waited six days to alert the public. The newly-formed umbrella organization that is in charge of St. Mary’s sent out a news release late Tuesday afternoon — a day after a reporter started making inquiries.
“As a preventive measure, St. Mary’s... has slowed down the pace of its surgeries starting on Oct. 28 because of a problem with the sterilization of surgical instruments,” Claire Roy, a communications official for the Montreal West Island Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre, said in the statement.
“This, however, does not impact safety or the quality of care for users,” Roy added. “The slowdown is due to necessary measures to ensure the perfect quality of the sterilization process. St. Mary’s Hospital is doing everything in its power to reduce impacts and is maintaining urgent procedures.”
A St. Mary’s doctor, who received a memo about the sterilization problem sent to staff, said that the black dust found on the instruments appears to have been caused by a chemical reaction in the autoclave pressure chamber. The autoclave is an oven that uses high heat, high pressure and chemical reactions to kill bacteria and viruses that are trapped and linger in the tiny recesses of surgical instruments.
“It might be because of a solvent that they were using in the autoclave,” said the doctor, who didn’t want her name published for fear of professional reprisals.
“What they saw was black dust, but they don’t think there’s been any bacterial or viral contamination (on the instruments)."
The press release issued by the hospital doesn’t mention black dust or describe the exact nature of the problem.
The sterilization problem arose as the hospital has been under orders by the provincial government to cut $8.6 million from its operating budget. One of the costcutting measures is to use cheaper supplies. Hospital officials were unable to say whether St. Mary’s is using a new solvent as a result of cost-cutting.
Until the source of the problem is pinpointed, St. Mary’s has implemented the following measures:
“A parallel instrument sterilization process” has been launched in another facility of the umbrella health organization.
“Discussions are underway to have surgical procedures conducted in other hospitals,” according to Roy’s statement. The nearby Jewish General Hospital, which is already burdened with lengthy waits for elective surgeries, has been in discussions with St. Mary’s about its problem.
St. Mary’s has been contacting all patients whose surgeries have been cancelled or postponed.
St. Mary’s officials could not say whether they will also try to reach patients who have undergone surgery recently. No timetable was given as to when the hospital expects to resume normal operations.