Problems Persist at St. Louis-VA Dental Clinic, VAOIG Report 10-03346-152

full article at: Issues go unsolved at St. Louis VA medical center "ST. LOUIS • John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis still needs to improve its sterilization procedures two years after problems in the dental clinic were first identified, according to a new report from the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General." "The new report was based on an inspection in January, when investigators found that surgical implants had not been sterilized for the mandated 48 hours. Medical supply rooms were not always kept at the correct humidity levels. Test results for potential contamination on sterilizing machines had not been recorded on multiple days. And inspectors' shoe booties were dirty after walking through the supply rooms, among other problems." =============== VAOIG Report: Healthcare Inspection - Follow-Up Evaluation of Dental Instrument Reprocessing Deficiencies St. Louis VA Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri Report Number: 10-03346-152 Issue Date: 4/5/2012 Summary: "The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Office of Healthcare Inspections conducted a review to follow-up on our report, Reprocessing of Dental Instruments, John Cochran Division of the St. Louis VA Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri. The purpose was to determine whether the adverse conditions identified have been resolved and whether OIG’s recommendations were implemented. In the past 18 months, facility managers have taken corrective actions and some conditions identified in the 2011 OIG report have been resolved. However, recommendations 1 and 2 from our 2011 report will remain open until all action plans outlined by the facility are effectively implemented. These recommendations include: (1) monitoring for compliance of all appropriate elements of reusable medical equipment reprocessing, standard operating procedures (SOPs), staff training, and staff competencies; and (2) monitoring by the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) Supply, Processing, and Distribution (SPD) Management Board to ensure that SOPs are in place and staff training and competencies are current."