Halifax hospital's sterilization woes cost hundreds of thousands

The Nova Scotia Health Authority is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars shipping clean surgical equipment to Halifax hospitals from around the province while it waits for its new sterilization machines.

The NSHA has ordered seven new units to sterilize surgical equipment after corrosion was discoveredthe second week in April,forcinghundreds of surgeries to be cancelled.

In place of the tainted sterilization units, clean surgical tools continue to be trucked to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centrefrom hospitals in Dartmouth, Windsor,KentvilleandTruro.

The transportation bill for the first six weeks, when some surgeries were cancelled, was $145,000. Additional bills will be coming for June, July and August until the cleaning system at the largest hospital is back up and running.

The first batch of three units for the Halifax Infirmary is expected to be up and running by the end of July, while the remaining units should be operationalat the Victoria General hospital by the end of August.

The cost of replacing the sterilizing units is about $1.1 million and the purchase was untendered. A spokesperson for NSHA said the "unforeseeable urgency" of the situation necessitated a direct purchase be made rather than a public tender.

When the purchase of new sterilization units was first announced in late April, the cost was pegged at $500,000 for a total of five units.

The NSHA says tainted instruments were never used on patients.