On July 21, Elizabeth Bell filed separate complaints with the state’s health department, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and The Joint Commission, claiming the hospital failed to remove broken or rusted surgical instruments for use and a “well-known” pest problem in operating room areas.
In the complaints, Ms. Bell alleges she was fired after reporting her concerns, according to the news outlet. She shared photos and video with KMBC that reportedly show bugs in and round ORs and sterile facilities at the hospital.
Michael Main, MD, CEO of Saint Luke’s Physicians Group denied the claims in a July 23 interview with KMBC.
“I’ve been here for 25 years as a practicing physician, never seen anything of this sort, so do I doubt it? Of course I doubt it,” Dr. Main told the news outlet after giving local journalists a tour of the hospital’s sterile processing facilities.
“Since these claims originally surfaced, we have vigorously defended our sterile processing standards,” Saint Luke’s Health System Kansas City said in a statement to Becker’s. “While we will not comment on pending litigation, Saint Luke’s sterile processing team adheres to and follows the standards set by the nation’s most reputable governing organizations including the Association of Operating Room Nurses and the Healthcare Sterile Processing Association, the Association of Operating Room Nurses, The Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, and Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.”
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