opened in 1995, it was 3 stories tall and had 10 ORs. How we've grown,
literally bursting at the seams as we've become an international desti-
nation for patients seeking specialty orthopedic care. We're now 5 sto-
ries tall and have 17
ORs. We do about
10,000 surgeries a
year. Our sterile pro-
cessing department
has 8 employees,
including me. We
process about 5,000
sets a month. Yes,
that's a lot.
For years, we were
wrapping about 75%
of our instruments
and containerizing
25%. During a 6-
month transition last
year, we flip-flopped
those numbers, so
now we're using rigid
containers for 3 of
every 4 sets. We still
use blue wrap for
those bigger, bulkier
trays that don't fit
into our 21-inch by
12-inch containers,
but we've invested in
1 0 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 1 6
At most surgical facilities, single-use blue wrap and
reusable rigid containers live together on the shelves. Most
of our InstaPoll respondents use both, but more than half
(54%) of the 255 respondents to last month's poll say they
place their sterile packs in rigid container systems at least
50% of the time.
What percentage of your sets
do you place in rigid container systems?
• Less than 25% 20%
• 25% to 50% 15%
• 50% to 75% 30%
• 75% to 100% 24%
• We use blue wrap exclusively. 11%
Blue Wrap or
Sterile Containers?
InstaPoll
O
S
M
