Latest news with #sterilization
CBC
30-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Whitehorse hospital making improvements after equipment sterilization problems
Water and steam quality are to blame for a months-long equipment sterilization issue at Whitehorse General Hospital that triggered the cancellations of nearly 150 surgeries and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A report released Monday details a review of the issue that caused residue on surgical instruments from the end of January to early April. The 363-page report, written by third party contractors, provides over one hundred recommendations to improve hospital infrastructure. Tiffany Boyd, CEO of the Yukon Hospital Corporation, says three-quarters of those recommendations are already underway. "We wanted not only to resolve the issue in a very thorough and complex way to protect our community and our population for the future, but we wanted to build redundancy. Because we're a rural and remote site, having redundant capacity is really important," Boyd said. The Whitehorse hospital has been back to its full surgical capacity, and completing its own sterilization on site, since April 7. It uses reverse osmosis treated water in a final rinse of equipment to ensure instruments are properly clean. To plan for any future emergencies, the hospital has purchased extra sets of equipment and staff have developed a system to sterilize equipment off-site if necessary. It involves packaging the instruments, sending them to Vancouver where staff sterilize them, re-pack them in sterile packaging, and return the equipment to careful airline staff who ensure the instruments arrive back to Yukon intact. "That pathway now exists and we can use it anytime we need," Boyd said. The hospital is also working on implementing other recommendations, including installing a reverse osmosis system and ultrafiltration systems — two methods of treating water. The report also recommends installing new water softeners, discarding expired supplies, keeping the door to the sterile storage room closed and better marking clean and soiled supplies. In the two months of sterilization issues, the hospital cancelled 165 surgeries. Most of those, 135, were cataract surgeries because the small equipment is too fragile to be transported for sterilization offsite. Dr. Alex Kmet, the chief of medical staff with the Yukon hospital corporation, said the disruptions had a major impact on patients and doctors having to make those decisions. "Deciding and recognizing that you have to preserve equipment for a potential emergency, knowing that there's a person scheduled and then deciding 'is it OK for me to go ahead or not' that is a profound moral and ethical issue on the providers," he said. "I have so much respect for my colleagues who navigated that." Boyd said the issues cost about $500,000 total, with the money being spent on shipping instruments for offsite sterilization, buying more equipment and consulting fees. She said there will be further costs to implement the consultants' recommendations and improve their infrastructure, but the hospital corporation will work with "partners" to ensure cost isn't a barrier.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
A pregnancy almost denied
Inuit, Métis and First Nations women in Canada are coming forward like never before, sharing their experiences of being forced or coerced to undergo surgical sterilization. Advocates say the practice is still happening and they want it criminalized. Katy Bear is among those fighting for reproductive justice by taking back her body.
CBC
19-05-2025
- CBC
A First Nations mother's fight against forced sterilization
After the birth of her fourth child, Katy Bear says she was coerced into being sterilized with a tubal ligation — she was 21. After years of fighting to regain control of her body, Bear has also become an advocate for other Indigenous people who were forcibly sterilized, as she embarks on a journey to have her fifth child.
Reuters
09-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Solventum beats first-quarter profit estimates on strong surgical product sales
May 8 (Reuters) - 3M spin-off Solventum (SOLV.N), opens new tab beat analysts' estimate for first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by higher sales of its wound care, sterilization products. The Minnesota-based company is one of the largest providers of sterilization devices, wound dressings, medical tape and other hospital consumables used by healthcare facilities. Solventum also raised its annual organic sales growth forecast up 1.5% to 2.5% from prior forecast of up 1.0% to 2.0%. The forecast includes its purification and filtration segment, the company said. The company's MedSurg business, which provides wound dressings and surgical equipment, makes more than half of its total revenue. Sales in this segment were $1.16 billion during the quarter. The company continues to expect annual profit per share in the range of $5.45 to $5.65. It reported total net sales of $2.1 billion for the quarter, a 2.6% rise from a year earlier. Solventum posted an adjusted profit of $1.34 per share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.22 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
