Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health suspended around 200 elective, nonemergency surgeries Jan. 20 and Jan. 21 after Cardinal Health warned customers not to use some of its surgical gowns that may not be sterile.
The 21-hospital system responded to Cardinal Health's warning last week and pulled the Level 3 surgical gowns and the PreSource procedural packs that contain them, from all of its facilities.
Ballad Health announced it would resume elective surgeries after getting supplies from other vendors. Around 200 surgeries scheduled for Monday and Tuesday had to be postponed, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review. The postponed surgeries are being rescheduled. Ballad resumed a normal surgery schedule Jan. 22.
Last week, Cardinal Health warned customers about potential quality issues with its Level 3 gowns and the packs that contain them. The company has initiated a voluntary product recall and is working with the FDA to resolve the issue. The gowns were produced in unauthorized, unregulated locations, a Cardinal Health spokesperson told Becker’s.
“We apologize for the hardship caused by the recall, and are doing everything we can to help resolve this issue for our customers and the patients they serve,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Ballad Health is not the only health system to suspend surgeries due to the sterility issue with the gowns. Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network canceled some elective surgeries Jan. 16.
Editor's note: This article and headline were updated Jan. 22 at 2:36 p.m. to include the fact that about 200 surgeries were postponed at Ballad Health as a result of the recall. It was updated at 3:35 p.m. on Jan. 22 to confirm that Cardinal Health had recalled the gowns.