For example, at Cedars, inspectors found that employees were not following safety standards as they packed trays of surgical instruments for sterilization in a machine. UCLA and Cedars officials said Friday they were not aware of any patients who were sickened by the sterilization problems the state regulators found during the March 2015 inspections. Inspectors found similar problems in sterilizing surgical instruments with hinges at UCLA. There they found a “widespread pattern of potential ineffective sterilization and storage of surgical instruments” as well as problems with the disinfection of scopes. Both hospitals quickly worked to fix the inspectors’ concerns, with the “immediate jeopardy” lifted after just three hours at UCLA and a day at Cedars.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 15, 2016 15:52 UTC