Colorado hospital paused surgeries for a week after inspectors found hundreds of instruments covered in ‘dried blood and tissue’

Situation inspectors UCHealth University’s colorado Hospital Non-urgent surgeries were halted for a week after dozens of contaminated surgical instruments were found covered in dried water. blood and the fabric around the facility.

In July, inspectors uncovered a large pile of uncleaned instruments, causing the hospital to halt all non-emergency surgeries from July 16 to July 25 while safety violations were addressed.

An investigation following a formal complaint found 17 stainless steel carts containing between 11 and 30 trays of dirty surgical instruments each in the hospital’s sterile processing department (SPD).

Additional carts were discovered in a waiting room and hallway near the operating rooms containing hundreds of trays “open to the air and heavily contaminated with dried blood and tissue,” investigators wrote. Colorado Sun.

The state regulator classified the situation as a finding of “immediate danger,” stating that patients face imminent harm unless corrective measures are implemented quickly.

UCHealth spokeswoman Kelli Christensen said: Sun The hospital’s SPD was operating at reduced capacity, causing elective surgeries to be postponed or relocated.

A spokesperson added that the hospital worked closely with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to address the violations.

“We have declared a deficiency at the immediate hazard level, which requires the facility to develop an immediate, long-term plan to correct any violations,” CDPHE spokeswoman Alexandrea Kallin said. Independent in a statement.

The backlog arose during the opening of new operating rooms, which significantly increased SPD’s workload.

Before the expansion, the hospital estimated it would need 65.2 full-time equivalent staff. Following the expansion, the need increased to 85.2 full-time equivalent personnel. Inspectors found no evidence that staff numbers had increased to meet this demand.

Sometimes instruments could not be sterilized for more than 24 hours, but technicians told researchers that delays could last up to six days.

According to reports, from April through July, inspectors documented dozens of days when more than 100 sets of contaminated instruments remained unprocessed, including one day when 500 sets remained unprocessed.

Staff inside the SPD were instructed to spray uncleaned instruments with pre-cleaning solution every 72 hours; inspectors said this violated the manufacturer’s instructions.

Christensen said the hospital can use 1,000 trays and thousands of individual surgical instruments per daySun.

This is a problem because dried blood and tissue increases the risk of biofilm, a hardened accumulation of bacteria that is difficult to eliminate. This could lead to “less effective disinfection and sterilization,” one inspector wrote.

The SPD director reported last year that there were staffing shortages and backlogs were reported to leadership daily.

Christensen confirmed. Sun This week the hospital faced difficulties filling open SPD positions, resulting in a temporary shortage.

During the shutdown in July, UCHealth exceeded national benchmarks by increasing SPD staffing to 140 FTEs and increased wages for those positions, Christensen said.

The hospital also implemented tighter monitoring of staffing levels and delays in cleaning instruments. As of September, state inspectors confirmed the hospital was in compliance with all regulations reviewed and took no further enforcement action.

“The University of Colorado Hospital Authority demonstrated that it successfully implemented the remediation plan without requiring the department to take further action at this time. We found the facility to be in compliance with the requirements,” Kallin said. Independent.

Inspection reports did not identify any cases of patient injury directly linked to sterilization failures. UCHealth said it did not identify any infections linked to the backlog, but at least one surgery was postponed while staff cleaned or replaced specialized instruments.

Christensen framed the incident as a temporary staffing crisis that was resolved through a close partnership with CDPHE.

He said the hospital’s commitment to making the necessary changes shows that patients can trust the hospital to provide safe and reliable care.

“The findings confirmed that our processes are safe, effective, and consistent with the highest standards of patient care,” Christensen wrote. Sun. “All patients whose surgeries were postponed have been rescheduled and most of these surgeries have now occurred.”

Independent He has reached out to UCHealth for further comment.