Would You Have Surgery at Your Hospital?
A Wake-Up Call for Hospital CEOs
Imagine sitting on an operating table at your own hospital. As the anesthesia kicks in, a question lingers: Would I feel confident in the safety, quality, and consistency of this surgical experience?
This question should not be rhetorical. It should be the starting point of a deep reflection on the invisible yet vital department that underpins every surgery performed in your institution: the Sterile Processing Department (SPD).
The Backbone of Surgical Safety
The SPD is the hidden engine of the operating room. Every scalpel, clamp, and retractor used during surgery must be meticulously cleaned, assembled, inspected, and sterilized—often within hours—to meet an aggressive surgical schedule. A breakdown in this process can cause delays, surgical site infections, or even catastrophic patient harm.
Errors in sterile processing can and do disrupt surgery. Missing instruments, bioburden on surgical tools, improperly assembled trays—each of these lapses can halt a case mid-procedure, impact patient safety, damage surgeon satisfaction, and inflate surgical costs. Surgeons may never meet the SPD team, but they know when something is wrong. When sterile processing fails, it echoes loudly in the OR.
Conditions That Compromise Care
Despite their critical role, sterile processing professionals often work under intense pressure and in harsh conditions. They handle thousands of instruments per day in high-temperature, high-humidity environments with little room for error. Compensation for these professionals is frequently at or near the bottom of the pay scale in your organization.
High instrument volume, limited staffing, minimal career advancement, and reactive (rather than proactive) training all contribute to one of the highest turnover rates in the hospital. Every time a seasoned SPD technician leaves, institutional knowledge and quality control walk out the door.
When Was the Last Time You Rounded in SPD?
As a hospital CEO, you round in the Emergency Department, ICU, and perhaps even the OR. But when was the last time you set foot in your Sterile Processing Department?
What you’ll find may surprise you: – Outdated SOPs or no written processes at all – Inadequate onboarding and inconsistent competency validation – Fractured relationships between SPD and OR teams – Workflow inefficiencies and space constraints leading to bottlenecks.
All of these impact not only surgical quality but also your financial performance.
What Needs to Change
Your SPD deserves more than reactive attention. It requires a proactive, system-wide strategy focused on:
- Assessing and updating standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Redesigning workflows to reduce errors and increase throughput
- Implementing robust onboarding and continuing education programs
- Enhancing communication and collaboration between SPD and surgical teams
- Improving employee engagement and retention through recognition, investment, and training
The Opportunity Ahead
You invest millions in surgical robots, state-of-the-art suites, and EMRs—but without a high-performing SPD, you’re risking all of it. The cost of surgical disruptions, extended case times, or a preventable infection can eclipse the investment required to transform your sterile processing operations.
This is not just about quality and compliance—it’s about confidence. It’s about being able to answer “Yes, absolutely,” when asked whether you’d have surgery at your hospital.
Let Moab Healthcare help you get there. We specialize in sterile processing optimization and strategic improvements. Our proven 3-P Methodology combines People, Process & Protection that drives: – Higher surgical safety and quality – Increased surgeon satisfaction – Reduced case delays and cancellations – Improved financial performance – Lower employee turnover.
Take Action
If it’s been a while since you’ve visited your SPD, now is the time.
Contact Moab Healthcare today to schedule a comprehensive assessment of your sterile processing department. Let’s ensure every surgery at your hospital starts with the confidence that comes from safe, high-quality instrument reprocessing.
Your patients deserve it. Your surgeons expect it. And your hospital depends on it.
