Central Sterile Incident Update

Mar 17, 2011

Bronxville, NY

Lawrence Hospital Center has a major commitment to patient safety as evidenced by our rapid response to our discovery that nine surgical trays did not go through the complete sterilization cycle recommended by the manufacturer. Immediately, Lawrence voluntarily notified the New York State Department of Health and simultaneously launched an internal investigation into the incident.

That exhaustive review identified ten patients who may have been exposed to the trays in question. Lawrence nurses contacted those patients by telephone and letter to alert them to this problem and offered to test those patients free of charge.

To be clear, if you did not get a letter or a phone call, you are not one of the affected patients.

Also, after its review, Lawrence Hospital Center independently decided to reinforce our patient safety protocols. We initiated additional staff training and implemented measures to make certain that this type of incident never happens again.

For more than a century, Lawrence Hospital Center has successfully taken care of hundreds of thousands of patients. Our goal is and will always be to provide the highest quality health care in a safe and comfortable environment close to home. To that end, the leadership and staff at Lawrence Hospital Center make this promise to you – that we will continue to do our best and strive to deliver the kind of care you have to come to expect from us.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please call the Infection Control Department hotline at 914-787-6006.