Becker's Hospital Review

56 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Agencies Launch New Investigation of Detroit Medical Center's Central Sterile Department By Heather Punke C MS and the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs are once again looking into Detroit Med- ical Center's central sterile department and its ability to properly clean surgical tools, ac- cording to e Detroit News. LARA and the Joint Commission conducted inspections Jan. 30 of sterilization facilities at Children's Hospital of Michigan, Harper University Hospital and Detroit Receiving Hospital — all part of DMC — and Kar- manos Cancer Institute, a partner of DMC located in its Midtown Detroit campus. e surprise inspection came aer both state and federal agencies cited DMC's central sterile department in 2016 aer an August report from e Detroit News uncovered problems in the department that dated back more than a decade. Following the inspection, DMC had to sub- mit correction plans to the agencies, which featured several steps, including: • Creating a perioperative improvement council and task force to oversee perioper- ative services, including CSP • Revising policies for cleaning between cas- es in the operating room • Instituting an annual review of infection control policies • Enhancing training However, a dirty surgical tool was deliv- ered to a DMC operating room just one day aer the state wrapped up its original inves- tigation in December. In statements sent to Crain's Detroit Business, both LARA and CMS said the new survey was authorized "due to new allegations in- volving unsterilized surgical equipment on the Midtown campus." DMC told Crain's, "e surveyors are present and the DMC will work with them during the course of their survey." n CDC Will Not Further Investigate UPMC Mold Outbreak Despite New Report By Brian Zimmerman T he Pennsylvania Department of Health and the CDC will not conduct further investigations in to a mold outbreak discovered in 2015 that contrib- uted to five patient deaths at Pittsburgh-based UPMC hospitals despite the findings of an internal report that detected mold on hospital bed linens, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The findings of the internal report — completed in May 2016 — were filed Jan. 26 in a lawsuit motion by the fami- lies of two patients who died after stays at UPMC hospitals. The report states mold similar to fungus detected during the 2015 outbreak was identified on bed linens supplied to the hospital by Paris Healthcare Linen Services in DuBois, Pa. "The facts of this investigation don't support the conclu- sion that infections resulted from exposure to linens," said the state health department in an emailed statement, ac- cording to the Post-Gazette. The CDC reportedly stands by the conclusions the agen- cy — with the help of state and county health departments — reached in 2016. Even though that investigation never identified a specific source for the outbreak, the CDC de- termined infections were linked to the improper use of negative-pressure rooms. CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner told the Post-Gazette in an email that the agency's investigation did not point to the outsourced linen service. "If linens were involved most likely there would have been cases more widespread throughout [the] facility and espe- cially cutaneous infections," said Mr. Skinner. No warnings have been sent to the 160 other hospitals that receive linens treated at the DuBois facility. n "The facts of this investigation don't support the conclusion that infections resulted from exposure to linens." — Pennsylvania Health Department

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