Sterilizing equipment problem forces Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital to divert surgery patients

Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital has been diverting many surgery patients to other regional medical facilities for several days after concerns were raised over the water used in sterilizing instruments, the Providence medical group confirmed Friday.

“On Oct. 17 we discovered a water treatment concern with two machines used in our Sterile Processing Department,” the company said in a statement.

Now, Memorial Hospital, Sonoma County’s largest, is preparing to resume elective surgeries “as soon as possible,” Providence said Friday, after testing by an independent party revealed no risks.

“As soon as we discovered this issue, we halted the use of this equipment and notified internal and external agencies,” the company said. “We have partnered with our vendors to test the water in these machines and have validated that it is properly cleaning and sterilizing our surgical instruments.

“Our water testing results are normal. Out of an abundance of caution and as an additional safety measure, an external third-party vendor validated these results.

“All sterilization equipment is properly functioning and is meeting safety standards.”

Providence notified external agencies of the interruption earlier this week, including the California Department of Public Health, the statement noted.

The problem caused the hospital to postpone elective surgeries, Providence said, while trauma-related and urgent procedures continued.

Several Santa Rosa Memorial staff members called the Sonoma County Department of Health Services to alert officials to concerns about the sterilization equipment there, according to Bryan Cleaver, regional administrator for the Coastal Valley Emergency Medical Services Agency, which oversees the local emergency medical care network.

Hospitals with “ER challenges” are mandated “to report the challenge and work out a diversion plan with the agency to assure patients have places to go and be served,” Cleaver said in an email.

Ultimately, he added, the California Department of Health Services would have regulatory oversight of Memorial Hospital’s trauma center.

Two Santa Rosa Memorial employees with knowledge of the situation spoke to The Press Democrat. One of them said the hospital began canceling or delaying all elective surgeries at its Level II trauma center on Wednesday, performing only the most urgent procedures at that site.

According to this employee, the trauma center typically performs 18-30 surgeries per day. The employee believes four surgeries were performed Wednesday and two on Thursday.

Memorial has not seen an interruption in procedures such as colonoscopies and endoscopies, or those performed at the cardiac catheterization lab or outpatient surgery center across the street from the trauma center, according to the source.

Both employees who spoke without attribution said they were told the problem in the operating room had to do with water purification. They asked to remain anonymous because they were concerned about potential retaliation by hospital management.

Before surgeries, a hospital’s sterile processing staff inspects, washes, thermally treats and disinfects the instruments that will be used by surgeons. The water used in that process is supposed to be deionized, according to published guidance by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

At Memorial Hospital, sources say, stainless steel instruments were coming out of the standard pre-op sterilization process with excess spotting or rust, making them unsuitable for surgery.

One of the employees shared a text she received from hospital management Thursday morning. “Good morning,” it read, “Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital continues to be on an Internal Code Triage. … If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Core leader.”

The term “code triage” is often reserved for disasters and other grave situations at hospitals.

Providence has partnered with its sister hospitals — in Healdsburg and Petaluma — and with Santa Rosa Ambulatory Surgery Center, to sterilize equipment for use during emergency/urgent cases, the company said. Sources say some of that equipment went to Healdsburg District Hospital.

Over the past few weeks, Memorial Hospital has not seen any increase in post-operation infections, Providence said.

“We take our patient safety and infection prevention procedures extremely seriously,” Providence wrote. “Patient safety and clinical excellence are, and have always been, our top priorities. At Providence Santa Rosa Memorial, we encourage everyone — regardless of their role — to speak up if there is an issue that needs to be addressed, as we want to resolve any issue as quickly as possible. This is deeply rooted in our organizational DNA.”

But Sal Rosselli, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, described the situation at Memorial Hospital as a failure of workplace staffing and budgeting, echoing the views of one of the employees who spoke to The Press Democrat.

“While Providence hasn’t informed us what caused this problem, we know that the company continues to profit while failing to adequately invest in the physical upkeep of the hospital and the staffing necessary to provide the best care for patients in Sonoma County,” Rosselli wrote in a statement.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post.