More than half a dozen surgeries at HCA Florida North Florida Hospital in Gainesville were reportedly canceled March 21 and rescheduled amid ongoing issues related to surgical instruments not being properly reprocessed.
Heart, spine and breast reconstruction procedures were among those canceled March 21, surgeons at the hospital told Mainstreet Daily News. Sources at the hospital who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the news outlet that a group of surgeons "unloaded" on hospital administrators March 21 after their schedules were disrupted because residue was left on surgical instruments that had come back from the sterile processing department.
A spokesperson for the hospital, part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, told Mainstreet that "a small number" of elective procedures were recently rescheduled as the hospital was installing a new water filtration system. Surgeons, however, say instruments were still coming back with residue on them after being reprocessed with the new system.
"All surgical specialties are still being affected" because "trays missing instruments or with contaminated instruments" are being delivered to operating rooms, one surgeon told the news outlet.
In January, the hospital confirmed it was temporarily suspending elective procedures to address equipment sterilization issues beginning Jan. 17. At the time, a hospital spokesperson told Becker's the equipment-related problem was affecting "presurgical processes." The hospital has since added additional presurgical processing units, gotten new instruments and expanded surgical services staff, a spokesperson for the hospital previously told The Gainesville Sun.
Employees have told news outlets that dirty instruments with tissue residue from prior procedures were among the issues that led to disruptions in operations and that, in the wake of those issues, the hospital began administering a "no strikes" rule in which employees would be terminated immediately for any issues related to contaminated surgical equipment.
In early March, the hospital reportedly fired its vice president of surgical services and a number of other employees connected to the facility's sterile processing department. At the time, a hospital spokesperson sent the following statement to Becker's, which did not address questions related to the firings:
"We have resumed all surgical operations at HCA Florida North Florida Hospital. We are performing nearly 100 percent of all elective surgical cases and expect to be at full capacity soon. We are dedicated to achieving this milestone with the same level of excellence our patients, physicians, staff and the community have come to expect from HCA Florida North Florida Hospital for the past 50 years."
On Feb. 6, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration visited the hospital and found no deficiencies, according to a summary of inspection records cited by WUFT. One physician told Mainstreet that surveyors with The Joint Commission were on site at the hospital March 21.