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State inspectors revealed that UCHealth University of colorado of hospital Non-emergency surgeries closed for week after dozens of contaminated surgical instruments were found soaked in dry matter Blood And tissue around the facility.
In July, inspectors uncovered a massive backlog of dirty equipment, causing the hospital to halt all non-emergency surgeries from July 16 to July 25 while safety violations were addressed.
The inspection, which began after a formal complaint, found 17 stainless steel carts in the hospital’s sterile processing department (SPD), each containing 11 to 30 trays of dirty surgical instruments.
Additional carts were found in a holding room near the operating suites and in the hallway, containing hundreds of trays “open to the air and badly soiled with dried blood and tissue,” inspectors wrote. Colorado Sun.
The state regulator classified the situation as “immediate danger”, indicating that unless corrective measures were quickly implemented, patients faced imminent harm.
UCHealth spokesperson Kelly Christensen said Sun The hospital’s SPD was operating at reduced capacity, due to which elective surgeries were postponed or shifted.
The hospital worked closely with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to address the violations, a spokesperson said.
“We issued a reduction in the immediate threat level, which required the facility to develop an immediate and long-term plan to correct any violations,” CDPHE spokesperson Alexandria Kalin said. Sun This week.
The backlog emerged amid the opening of new operating rooms, dramatically increasing SPD’s workload.
Before the expansion, the hospital was estimated to need 65.2 full-time equivalent staff. Following the expansion, the requirement increased to 85.2 full-time equivalent employees. Inspectors found no evidence that staff numbers had been increased to meet this demand.
Sometimes, equipment remained sterilized for more than 24 hours, but technicians told investigators that delays could extend up to six days.
According to reports, from April to July, inspectors documented dozens of days during which more than 100 sets of contaminated equipment went unprocessed, with one day leaving 500 sets unprocessed.
Inside SPD, employees were instructed to spray pre-cleaning solution on uncleaned equipment every 72 hours, which inspectors said was a violation of manufacturer’s instructions.
Christensen said the hospital could use 1,000 trays and thousands of individual surgical instruments a day.Sun.
This is a problem because dried blood and tissue increases the risk of biofilm, a hardened bacterial buildup that is difficult to remove. This could result in “less effective disinfection and sterilization,” one inspector wrote.
The SPD Director reported staffing shortages over the past year, with backlogs reported daily to leadership.
Christensen confirmed Sun This week the hospital faced challenges filling open SPD positions, resulting in a temporary shortage.
Christensen told the outlet that during the July shutdown, UCHealth expanded SPD staffing to 140 FTE, which exceeded the national benchmark, and increased salaries for these positions.
The hospital also implemented strict monitoring of staffing levels and delays in cleaning equipment. By September, state inspectors confirmed that the hospital was in compliance with all survey regulations and imposed no further restrictions.
Inspection reports did not identify any instances of patient harm directly linked to sterilization failures. UCHealth said it found no infections linked to the backlog, although at least one surgery was delayed while staff cleaned or replaced specialized equipment.
Christensen described the incident as a temporary staffing crisis resolved through 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, reliable care.
“Their findings confirmed that our procedures were safe, effective, and consistent with the highest standards of patient care,” Christensen wrote. Sun“Patients whose procedures were postponed have been rescheduled and most of those surgeries have now taken place.”
Independent UCHealth and CDPHE have been contacted for further comment.