New Sterilization Process Allows More Efficient and Even Safer Surgical Procedures at Silver Cross Hospital

Safety is always Silver Cross Hospital’s No. 1 priority, so it’s no surprise the New Lenox hospital recently became the first in the greater Chicago area to use a new and highly advanced instrument sterilization system for surgeries. 

When patients are being prepped for surgery, it’s likely they’re more focused on the surgeon than the instruments they’ll be using. 

And that’s OK with Jim Tyrell, Sterile Processing Manager at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. He knows his department has it covered. 

“Sterile Processing’s mission is to provide safe, sterile instrumentation to all of our procedural departments in the hospital,” said Tyrell, who has been with Silver Cross for 11 years. “Our department is 100% focused on keeping patients safe from infection so they can heal quickly and get back to productive lives.” 

The Sterile Processing Department at Silver has been at the forefront of patient safety among its peers in the country, earning Healthcare Purchasing’s Sterile Processing Department of the year in 2015, and building on that every year. 

That includes this year, when Silver Cross became the first hospital in the greater Chicago area to use the Turbett Pod instrument sterilization system.   

Using the normal steam process, Tyrell said, requires wrapping/containerizing each tray individually and prepping for sterilization. That takes more time, as well as increasing the possibility of contamination. 

“The Turbett Instrument Pod is designed to sterilize up to 15 instrument trays (375 lbs.) for a single surgical case,” he said.  “The number of instruments on a tray ranges from one large component to 110 smaller pieces. Being able to sterilize multiple trays without having to wrap each individually, we can save 30 to 50 minutes per procedure.” 

That means timelier surgery starts – definitely a plus for patients. 

“Surgeons and staff don’t have to spend extra time checking each sterilized instrument for holes in the package and unwrapping them. We’ve been using it only a few days, but they love it.” 

Tyrell said it’s OK if patients don’t know about the Turbett system. They’ll benefit either way.   

“We are very excited to bring this safe, efficient process to our hospital and all our procedural areas, and patients will benefit from it.” 

For more information, visit silvercross.org