Seattle hospital notifies 12,000 families about improperly sterilized equipment

Seattle Children’s Hospital is alerting 12,000 families after it found that some of its surgical equipment at the Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center wasn’t properly sterilized, according to a CBS News article.

At press time, the hospital said no patients had been infected, but it recently discovered that procedures for cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments were not always followed. Seattle Children’s is offering free blood tests for hepatitis B and C and HIV to any patients who had a surgical procedure at Bellevue Clinic.

The hospital said it has reprocessed affected equipment and verified its cleaning and sterilization processes.

Read the CBS News article.