Medical Device Reprocessing Department

Kathy Henderson, Glenda Shiell, Justine Paquette, Nadisha Weerasinghe, Kristin Fuechtmann, Dianne McBeath, Pam Knudson, Andrea Romero, Vanessa Heath, Barb Siemens, David Smith, John Regacho

In late October 2023, St. Mary’s Hospital experienced an event that directly affected the medical device reprocessing department (MDRD). Every task this team undertakes has a direct impact on patient care because this department cleans, disinfects, prepares and distributes medical equipment and instruments. After discovering discoloration on instruments, the MDRD team flagged the issue and began troubleshooting to ensure patient safety and to try to decrease service interruptions. MDRD worked around-the-clock to discover the cause of the initial problem and to maintain partial surgical services by sending instruments out for processing. Surgeons and staff supported their decisions as sources and solutions to the problem were investigated.

MDRD faced many variables outside of their control. Equipment failed due to the main facility system and required an intense and long remediation process. Throughout the remediation and solution-finding efforts, all members of the MDRD team were empowered to share their thoughts whether to identify a gap in process or identify a piece of equipment that still did not meet standard. They worked collectively to get services up and running at full capacity as soon as possible.

MDRD was affected by another water event on December 2, 2023, which affected 55 per cent of the hospital. With grace and perseverance, they again worked to remediate their space.