Your Impact: Thunder Bay 50/50 Funds New Sterilizer to Deliver Quality Care Faster
Published Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Chris, and Medical Device Reprocessing Operator at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre in front of the brand new Steris V-PRO low-temperature sterilization unit purchased with proceeds from the Thunder Bay 50/50.
Have you ever wondered how all those surgical instruments get cleaned after an operation? Obviously, it is crucial that all equipment is properly sterilized for the next surgery. That vital sterilization step in patient care is handled by a special department at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre: the Medical Device Reprocessing Department or MDRD.
Thanks in part to your Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket purchases, you're helping ensure MDRD can get those instruments sterilized promptly to deliver quality care faster.
The operating room sees 14,000 cases every year using on average 150 pieces of surgical equipment per surgery. Endoscopy performs another 13,000 scopes per year. All those instruments have to be cleaned after every single procedure.
“MDRD sterilizes millions of individual devices per year – and that number is growing,” said Jodi Lewicki, Manager of the Medical Device Reprocessing Department at the Hospital. “The department runs 24/7 to ensure that equipment is sterilized quickly so it's ready for surgeons and healthcare professionals when they need it.”
Your Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket purchases will help MDRD expand to meet growing demand. New procedures like cardiac surgery and new equipment such as the robotics surgery mean that more and more equipment needs to be cleaned in a department that already works 24/7. The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation put aside some proceeds from the Thunder Bay 50/50 Draw to purchase the new Steris V-PRO low-temperature sterilization unit, expanding MDRD's capacity.
Sterilization of instruments is a fascinating process. First, instruments and devices are thoroughly washed in a medical-grade cleaning solution. Then, they are wrapped in a special packaging. The packaged instruments are put into the sterilization device with a test strip to confirm sterilization was completed properly. When the devices come out, they are still wrapped and ready to go, only opened once they are in the safe, sterile environment of the operating room.
The Hospital uses generally two types of sterilization equipment: a high-temp autoclave or steam sterilizer, and the low-temp V-PRO, which your ticket purchases helped fund. The V-PRO uses a combination of heat and hydrogen peroxide to thoroughly sterilize certain equipment such as endoscopy scopes. Technically, scopes can be cleaned in the high-temp autoclave, but this significantly reduces the equipment's lifespan.
“If we didn't have a low-temperature sterilization option, the scopes would get damaged in the high temperature autoclave over time,” Lewicki said. “This low-temp option extends the useful life of the surgical devices so that they don't have to be replaced as often. It also takes less time to process, which means we can get the instruments cleaned and back to the OR or clinic faster.”
Your Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket purchases are making an impact on patient care every day! Find out more about how you make a difference in patients' lives by reading the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation's news page: www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/latest-news And don't forget to get your tickets for this month's draw at: thunderbay5050.ca
Article by Graham Strong