Catholic Health has embraced a new technology provider based in New York State, Turbett Surgical. This collaboration introduces a remarkable solution that revolutionizes the way we sterilize surgical trays, while addressing multiple challenges we face in the healthcare industry.
Traditionally, the sterilization of surgical instrument trays involve individually wrapping each tray with sterilization wrap, often referred to as “blue wrap,” a polypropylene product. This process results in a staggering 5 million pounds of medical waste generated annually. However, thanks to Turbett’s advanced sterilization technology, we were able to drastically reduce this environmental impact.
Reducing Medical Waste with New Technology
By introducing a single multi-tray sterilization container, we now reduce our blue wrap waste by a remarkable 90%. This means that each surgical procedure no longer contributes 2-3 large garbage bags of medical waste, leading to a substantial positive impact on our environment.
The Turbett solution’s benefits extend beyond its enormous benefit to the environment. The innovative process decreases the number of times our healthcare professionals preparing surgical instruments need to lift the surgical instrument trays by 75%. Surgical instrument trays weigh approximately 10lbs and most joint replacement surgeries require an average of eight trays.
Catholic Health performs over 2,500 joint replacement surgeries annually. The Turbett innovative sterilization process decreases their team’s workload by over 240,000 pounds annually.
Improving Efficiency in the Operating Room
Walt Ludwig, President of Kenmore Mercy Hospital expressed the organization’s commitment to innovation, saying, “Catholic Health prides itself on evaluating and implementing innovative technology that improves the lives of our patients, our staff, our community and environment. Turbett Surgical’s sterilization solution met our criteria by improving our operating room efficiency, decreasing the strain on our sterile processing staff, and helping to reduce our carbon footprint.”
Sharon Juda, Manager of Sterile Processing for Sisters of Charity Hospital and its St. Joseph campus, further emphasized the positive impact of Turbett Surgical’s innovation, stating, “Turbett Surgical provided our sterilization department with a solution to decrease the stress and strain on our committed staff and helps them keep pace with our first-in-class surgical departments.”
Catholic Health once again leads the healthcare industry with a focus on a more efficient working environment for our staff and efforts to help in preserving our planet.
