Federal agency cites Buffalo VA’s violation of sterilization procedure standards
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Jerry Zremski
WASHINGTON Employees at the Buffalo VA Medical Center have violated safety standards for sterilizing medical equipment, the federal agency charged with investigating whistle-blower complaints said Monday.
The Office of Special Counsel cited the problems at the Buffalo facility in a letter to President Obama in which it said that at health facilities nationwide, the VA often admits to deficiencies in its patient care while implausibly denying that those problems affect veterans health.
For example, in Buffalo, the VAs Office of the Medical Inspector substantiated a whistle-blowers allegation that health care professionals do not always comply with VA sterilization standards for wearing personal protective equipment and that these workers occasionally failed to place indicator strips in surgical trays and mislabeled sterile instruments, the letter to the president said.
Yet while acknowledging those problems, OMI did not believe that the confirmed allegations affected patient safety, Special Counsel Carolyn M. Lerner wrote.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/medical/federal-agency-cites-buffalo-vas-violation-of-sterilization-procedure-standards-20140623