According to an Aug. 28 article from The Denver Post, three hospitals on the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo. recently postponed surgeries due to water-related issues impacting sterilization equipment.
The article says, “Children’s Hospital Colorado postponed non-emergent surgeries through Tuesday [Sept. 3] out of an ‘abundance of caution’ while hospital staff dealt with the issue that had reduced the facility’s sterile processing capacity since last week.”
Further, “Staff at UCHealth’s University of Colorado Hospital on Thursday [Aug. 22] noticed tiny black flecks in some of their washers prior to sterilizing and after washing medical equipment, said Dan Weaver, a hospital spokesperson. Personnel immediately stopped using the equipment and began investigating the issue, he said.”
The hospital postponed or rescheduled approximately 60 elective cases during the disruption, according to the article, but continued to perform urgent and emergency procedures.
Weaver told The Denver Post that the sterile processing department was “back online” on Aug. 26. There were no reports of the black flecks.
The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center also postponed or moved surgeries due to similar water issues.
In early May, we reported that the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colo. had halted surgeries due to a “mysterious residue” appearing on its sterilized equipment.
Then, in August, we reported that the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center resumed all surgeries on Monday, Aug. 12.
The article states, “Shonnie Cline, a spokesperson with Aurora Water, said hospitals told the agency on Friday that they noticed changes to their water.”
“City officials were still working to determine the cause and origin of the issue, she said. Water quality tests are meeting their standards, Cline said, and the city is not receiving complaints from elsewhere in the distribution network,” the article adds.
