University of Colorado Hospital postpones non-emergency surgeries due to staffing shortage

University of Colorado Hospital was forced to postpone selected non-emergency surgeries this month after a staffing shortage in the sterilization department led to concerns about having enough clean instruments The hospital in Aurora prioritized emergencies and urgent cases during the shortfall but is starting to return to a more-normal volume of pre-scheduled procedures announced Dan Weaver spokesman for UCHealth which owns the hospital He didn t specify how countless people had to wait for non-emergency procedures but noted particular already have new surgery dates scheduled We will be working as fleetly as doable to reschedule all elective surgeries and procedures that had been postponed he declared in a announcement We sincerely apologize to our patients and thank them for their understanding as we return to normal operations Related Articles Electrocution nearly took this Estes Park woman s hands It didn t take her will to climb again Suspect in Boulder antisemitic terror attack charged with counts including attempted murder What we know about the Pearl Street Mall attack in Boulder Families have to find their own livers because of organ donor shortfall The Colorado Department of Residents Robustness and Atmosphere validated it was probing a complaint involving the University of Colorado Hospital this week but declined to say whether it had anything to do with instrument sterilization Once the review is over the state soundness department will post the results on its website Sterilizing surgical instruments is a complex process and technicians must undergo training to ensure they don t miss a step and leave germs on equipment that will go into a subject s body The state cited hospitals for sterilization problems from to May In the majority cases staff made mistakes that could have contaminated instruments The state hasn t issued any information suggesting the University of Colorado Hospital wasn t following proper sterilization procedures Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get healthcare news sent straight to your inbox