AURORA, Colo. — All surgeries at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center are expected to resume Monday for the first time since May, when plastic residue found on equipment caused the hospital to stop surgeries . VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS) stopped surgeries at the Aurora medical center requiring on-site sterilization on May 3 after staff found residue on several surgical equipment trays, according to the U.
S. Department of Veterans Affairs. >Video above is from a 9NEWS report in May about the medical center halting surgeries.
In July, the VA worked with a manufacture-trained vendor to refurbish the hospital's sterilizer and washers. Staff ran test loads of equipment to make sure the problem was fixed, the VA said. “Our surgical staff are excited to be in the operating room providing excellent care to Veterans,” said Dr.
Victor Quijano, chief of surgery. “Many veterans trust their VA doctors so much that they chose to wait to receive their procedures with us. We are happy to be helping these patients.
” Working with regional and national experts, the staff replaced parts and equipment in the steam and sterilization systems, according to the VA. “I was so proud of the staff who stopped the line when they saw the black flecks, which meant that we didn’t have any patients harmed by this issue," said Amir Farooqi, interim director of VA ECHCS. "It reinforces that no matter what, patient safety comes first.
I’m also extremely proud of the ha.