Seattle Children’s reports breach of sterilization protocol

Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg Jun 20, 2025

Jan 12, 2018

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                <h1>Seattle Children’s reports breach of sterilization protocol</h1>
                <h2><p>There’s small, but still disconcerting, chance that Seattle Children’s may have accidentally exposed some of its patients to diseases due to improperly sterilized instruments. KING5 and CBS both report that the Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center has begun an investigation into the procedures for cleaning and sterilizing surgical</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/jacob-nierenberg-crosscut-com/">Jacob Nierenberg</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>There’s small, but still disconcerting, chance that Seattle Children’s may have accidentally exposed some of its patients to diseases due to improperly sterilized instruments. <a href="http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2015/08/26/seattle-childrens-reports-sterilization-problems/32436087/?ref=avalancheghost.one">KING5</a> and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/seattle-childrens-hospital-surgical-equipment-may-have-been-unsterile/?ref=avalancheghost.one">CBS</a> both report that the Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center has begun an investigation into the procedures for cleaning and sterilizing surgical equipment after small amounts of debris were found, potentially putting patients at risk for hepatitis B and C, or HIV. The clinic, which opened five years ago, did not say when the issue came to its attention, but it is offering free blood tests to all of the 12,000 patients treated at that location.</p>
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There’s small, but still disconcerting, chance that Seattle Children’s may have accidentally exposed some of its patients to diseases due to improperly sterilized instruments. KING5 and CBS both report that the Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center has begun an investigation into the procedures for cleaning and sterilizing surgical equipment after small amounts of debris were found, potentially putting patients at risk for hepatitis B and C, or HIV. The clinic, which opened five years ago, did not say when the issue came to its attention, but it is offering free blood tests to all of the 12,000 patients treated at that location.

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By Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg is an editorial intern at Crosscut. He has lived in Washington for nearly all of his life, and still proudly identifies with the Pacific Northwest despite his relocation to Stanford U