Elective surgeries postponed at Chinook Regional Hospital

Residue found on some surgical instruments; low risk to patients

LETHBRIDGE — Alberta Health Services (AHS) is proactively postponing 25 elective surgeries at Chinook Regional Hospital scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 4, after identifying a residue on some surgical instruments.

Seven elective surgeries scheduled for Nov. 2 and 3 were also postponed for this reason. Urgent and emergency surgical procedures will continue as normal.

“We offer our sincere apologies as we understand postponing surgeries is stressful and inconvenient for our patients,” says Teri Myhre, Senior Operating Officer for Acute Care (west), South Zone. “This issue is a top priority and we take the situation very seriously. We are working to full resolution as quickly as possible but more surgical procedures may need to be postponed until we have fixed the problem.”

Chinook Regional Hospital (CHR) is working toward re-establishing a normal elective surgical schedule next week. Elective surgeries include gynecological, orthopedic and cosmetic procedures.

The residue is possibly related to cleaning and sterilization processes and is considered to be a low risk to patient safety.

AHS is investigating all stages of its cleaning and sterilization processes to ensure patient safety. Water systems and medical device processing equipment at CRH are being tested.

Affected patients have been contacted directly and elective surgery procedure dates have been rescheduled with most of patients.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.

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