Northwestern Medical Center has elected to pause some surgical procedures this week while we address a problem with very small particulates being found in sterilized surgical trays, which hold surgical instruments.   

What is happening:   

NMC has found particulates in some surgical trays over the past several weeks. Our Surgical Services team is finding the issue as they are preparing for surgery as part of our standard safety checks. This isn’t an issue of sterility with the surgical trays or instruments – our regular testing show that the trays are properly sterilized. This has impacted our ability to ensure trays are ready in time for our regularly scheduled procedures and resulted in the need to delay and reschedule procedures.   

Out of an abundance of caution, we’ve paused surgery as we investigate the issue thoroughly.  

Once we are confident we have isolated and resolved the issue, we will resume scheduling surgeries. We are sorry for this inconvenience and are working very hard to resolve the situation as quickly as we can – we know this is really hard for patients.   

What are we doing?  

We are working with the Steris company, a national expert that manufactures and services the surgical equipment and trains staff on best practice across. Steris has assured us that we are not the only hospital that has dealt with this issue.   

The process for finding a solution takes time. We are looking at each step in the process to isolate the source of the issue and find the right solution. Just a few examples of the work underway include:   

• Installing a reverse osmosis deionization system to remove water impurities 
• Replacement of surgical trays 
• Review and analyzing every aspect of the work environment. 

Should community members be concerned?  

Community members do not need to be concerned and can take comfort in knowing that NMC is prioritizing safety and high quality care. All surgeries have been performed using the highest quality standards. When particulates have been identified, those trays have not been used. Anyone whose procedure may be impacted in the future will be notified by a member of our Surgical Services team. We apologize for any disruption to those who were scheduled for surgery as we work to come up with a resolution.  

We are taking an incremental approach to the resolution of the situation. The reverse osmosis water system installation is underway this week and after that we will begin a process of testing and reprocessing. We will bring surgeries back online when we are confident that the solution has been fully implemented and the problem will not recur.