Cambridge hospital to resume surgeries Friday

Cambridge Memorial Hospital says it will resume normal surgical operations Friday.

The hospital cancelled 59 surgeries earlier this week after the technicians who disinfect, sterilize and reprocess its surgical instruments noticed a discolouration on the tools.

Speaking on Tuesday, Stephanie Pearsall, vice president of clinical services and chief nursing executive said there’s no chance any discoloured instruments were used in surgery.

“As soon as we noticed it [the discolouration], we removed the instruments. They did not go into the operating room,” Pearsall said.

The hospital brought in an external party to investigate the cause of the discolouration.

"Based on feedback from our external consultants we adjusted steam and rinse times within the reprocessing sequence," it said in an email. "Since we have added additional time we have not experienced the issues."

On Thursday, the hospital said it was ready to resume normal surgical operations.

“On behalf of the hospital I apologize for the disruption and will prioritize patients that were cancelled. Please know that our teams have worked tirelessly to ensure that we are able to provide safe care. Thank you to the community for your patience and support,” Pearsall said in the release.

The hospital said it remains committed to prioritizing and rescheduling patients who had their surgeries cancelled.