Several Colorado hospitals have been cited by the state health department for contaminated equipment over the past three years, The Denver Gazette reported.
The contaminated instruments caused officials at Rocky Mountain Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Aurora to reschedule hundreds of dental and surgical procedures earlier this year, and VA officials told The Denver Gazette on Wednesday that the source of the contamination has been identified as plastic debris.
Contamination of reusable equipment can allow bacteria, viruses, and fungi to enter the surgical site, causing infection.
According to complaints filed since 2021 by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, just four hospitals have had contaminated equipment or sterilization problems: Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver, Animas Surgical Hospital and Mercy Hospital in Durango.
In at least three cases, state health department officials determined the problem was serious enough to pose what’s called an “imminent danger” to Animas, Children’s and St. Luke’s.
“Immediate danger” refers to a situation in which non-compliance places the patient’s health and safety at risk of serious injury, harm, disability, or death.
Officials at St. Luke’s, Animas and Mercy hospitals did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment.
Children’s Hospital spokeswoman Sarah Bonner pointed to the hospital’s corrective plan submitted to the state, which said it took immediate steps to strengthen its “processes regarding infection control practices for high-level disinfection of endoscopes and reprocessing of sterile instruments.”
“Today’s healthcare practices rely so heavily on equipment and technology that issues with equipment sometimes arise,” said Carla Welch, spokesperson for the Colorado Hospital Association.
“As a result, hospitals typically plan for this as part of their emergency preparedness programs,” she said. “These plans typically provide guidance on how to manage various equipment issues and are focused on prioritizing quality, safety and patient care.”
‘Encouraging results’
Healthcare-associated infections are preventable.
almost 3% of US hospital patients A 2015 study found that 1 in 100 people have contracted a healthcare-associated infection.
It’s unclear how many patients in Colorado have contracted healthcare-associated infections, which require additional treatment and can lead to suffering and death. State health officials did not respond to requests for comment from The Denver Gazette.
Some surgical instruments are disposable and some are reusable.
Reusable equipment includes scalpels and dental instruments that impact surgery and routine dental care.
Janelle Beswick, a spokeswoman for the VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System, said an inspection last month determined that previously unidentified “black specks” on two surgical trays found with reusable surgical instruments in April were plastic.
Standard operating procedures require inspection of equipment before every procedure, and it was during this inspection that the residue was discovered.
Beswick said the problem appeared to be with the hospital’s steam sterilization system, which is used to clean reusable medical equipment.
Officials found residue in about 5 percent of surgical trays at VA hospitals.
Beswick said the hospital began using reusable medical equipment from July 15 after a contractor “completely refurbished the sterilizer and washer and replaced worn internal parts.”
“As of July 22, 100% of RME’s surgical suites have passed rigorous testing and we continue our gradual resumption of surgical services,” Beswick said in an email to The Denver Gazette. “If these encouraging results continue, we plan to further expand surgical procedures and resume full surgical operations on August 12.”
But not all surgeries at the VA use reusable medical equipment that is cleaned through a sterilization process in-house.
Surgeries that can be performed with disposable instruments also continue.
Because state health departments are federal agencies, they do not exercise regulatory oversight over VA hospitals.
Corrective actions at the VA hospital included changing filters throughout the system, cleaning the equipment room and scoping assessments of the hospital’s steam system lines.
A total of 52 dental appointments and 181 surgeries were rescheduled or referred to area hospitals or other VA facilities in April.
“This is not a failure of protocol, but an example of safety processes working as intended,” Beswick previously said.
