Becker's Spine Review

9 SPINE SURGEONS Blood, bone & bug found on spine surgery instruments at Denver hospital: 5 things to know By Mackenzie Garrity T he Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment finalized its investigation at Denver-based Porter Adventist Hospital aer discovering 5,800 spine and orthopedic patients may have been at risk to infection due to improper cleaning issues, CBS Denver reported. Here are five things to know: 1. While surgeries resumed in April the CDPHE recently determined the issue was caused by hu- man error. e department indicated surgical instruments at the hospital were not properly scrubbed. 2. e hospital responded by explaining the dif- ficulties of removing bone and tissue material. e hospital notified the 5,800 patients and not- ed infection chances were low. 3. In dozens of cases, instruments were coated with blood or had hair stuck to them. In the CDPHE report, officials found in 76 percent of incidents chunks of bone, blood, cement, black residue, dead bug and hair were found on in- struments and surgical trays for surgeries be- tween Jan 1, 2017 and April 2. 4. e report also found surgeries were oen de- layed or interrupted due to instruments. 5. Porter Adventist developed a plan of action to correct the sterilization issues. e strategy includes an established sterilization oversight plan to ensure an accurate process, equipment sterilization and surgical site infection tracking data and structured workflow patterns to pre- vent delays. e CDPHE continues to monitor the hospital's compliance plan. n Tennessee health system files for bankruptcy, says it owes CHS $28M By Ayla Ellison K noxville, Tenn.-based Curae Health and its three hospi- tals in Mississippi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Aug. 24. Filings in the bankruptcy case show Curae and the three hos- pitals have $3.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and $96 million in liabilities, according to the Monroe Journal. Curae listed the creditors who have the largest unsecured claims against the health system in its bankruptcy petition. Ac- cording to the petition, Curae owes $28.6 million to Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. The three Mississippi hospitals included in Curae's bankruptcy case are Gilmore Memorial Hospital in Amory, Panola Medical Center in Batesville and Northwest Mississippi Medical Center in Clarksdale. All three hospitals were previously owned by CHS. In a statement to the Monroe Journal, Curae Health said the hospitals will operate as normal throughout the bankruptcy process. "Many rural hospitals across the country have faced year-over- year financial challenges due to government funding cuts, un- funded care mandates and other pressures," Curae said. "Our hospitals were not immune to these issues and after exhaust- ing other possibilities, the decision was clear that the hospitals could not continue to operate under mounting debt and tight- ening financial resources." Curae told the Monroe Journal it expects to sell the hospitals as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. n Dr. Christopher Shaffrey leaves U of Virginia School of Medicine to head Duke's spine division By Laura Dyrda D urham, N.C.-based Duke Health named Chris- topher I. Shaffrey, MD, chief of the Duke Spine Division, effective Sept. 1. Dr. Shaffrey served as the John A. Jane Professor of Neu- rological Surgery and adjunct professor of orthopedics surgery at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. In his new role at Duke, he leads the spine division, which is newly created from a collaboration be- tween the neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery depart- ments. Since the division's inception last year, William J. Richard- son, MD, served as the interim chief and presided over strategic planning and patient satisfaction for the division. He also was instrumental in creating the Combined Spine Scheduling Hub. Dr. Shaffrey has a special interest in researching pediatric and adult scoliosis, spinal cord injury, spinal trauma and tu- mors. He serves as the deputy editor for Spine and Spine Deformity, and he has more than 400 publications to his credit. Beyond his clinical practice, Dr. Shaffrey has expe- rience as chair of the International Meeting of Advanced Spine Techniques, and he is president-elect of the Ameri- can Association of Neurological Surgeons. Prior to joining the University of Virginia School of Medi- cine, Dr. Shaffrey practiced in the neurological surgery and orthopedic surgery department at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit before joining Seattle-based University of Washing- ton in 2004. n

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