Mark Reis, The Gazette
A state inspection found violations at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs.
Workers at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs failed for years to properly disinfect vaginal ultrasound probes and other pieces of medical and surgical equipment, according to a state Health Department investigation conducted earlier this year.
The investigation, completed in May, found that the hospital did not have a consistent policy for disinfecting the probes and also found problems with cleaning surgical instruments, procedure rooms and a rubber component of intravenous medication vials. Interviews with workers indicated that some of the flawed procedures had been used for at least four years.
“These failures created the potential for patients to be at risk for health care acquired infections,” the department wrote in an investigation report.
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Memorial Hospital officials responded by saying they found no evidence of any patients who suffered infections as a result of the faulty cleaning procedures. The hospital said it had updated and strengthened its disinfection policies and re-trained staff members as a result of the investigation.
“[W]e are always looking for opportunities to improve our processes and in particular, infection prevention,” the hospital wrote in an official response included in the Health Department report.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment began looking into disinfection problems at the hospital in April after a former ultrasound technician filed a complaint. The technician, Mary Elizabeth Falcone, was fired by the hospital in September, following what she said was a series of complaints she made to the hospital about problems with disinfection procedures.
The health department’s investigation came to light this week after Falcone filed a lawsuit against the hospital in El Paso County District Court. The lawsuit alleges that Memorial Hospital wrongfully fired Falcone in retaliation for her complaints, and also that it broke a law protecting health care workers who report safety problems.
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