Women & Infants employees raise concerns over broken HVAC, sterilization process

Employees at Women & Infants Hospital say a broken heating and cooling system in the basement is making it impossible to properly sterilize medical equipment.

An employee, who spoke with NBC 10 anonymously out of fear of retaliation, described dangerous working conditions on the hospital's basement level, which houses the sterilization department and diagnostic imaging, including ultrasounds.

"It's been hot. Like, now it's gotten to the point where we have to have our doors open," the employee said.

The extreme heat has forced hospital leadership to outsource sterilization efforts to Kent Hospital, according to internal hospital emails obtained by NBC 10.

"Once the instruments leave the hospital, they're not sterile anymore," the employee explained.

Hospital staff wash medical instruments at Women & Infants, then send them to Kent Hospital for sterilization before bringing them back. Employees say this process increases the risk of contamination, especially for tools used in surgeries and childbirth.

"If these instruments aren't sterile the way they're supposed to be... anything can happen to any of those patients," the employee added.

NBC 10 obtained an internal memo sent to staff on Friday, outlining the hospital's sterilization plan:

"We are temporarily using external vendors to safely clean and sterilize some medical equipment. We are also using some disposable equipment. All these actions maintain the highest standards of safety and quality," the statement read.

However, employees say these solutions are short-term fixes.

"They said it should be done by Monday. But that’s all this hospital does—temporary fixes," the employee said.

Employees say they are deeply concerned about patient safety.

"Anybody that I know who plans on having a baby or is having some type of surgery, right now I would not come here," the employee said.

NBC 10 has reached out to Women & Infants Hospital leadership for further comment on the status of HVAC repairs and sterilization procedures. NBC 10 is awaiting a response.

A spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Labor sent NBC 10 the following statement:

"OSHA is looking into the safety and health hazards brought to their attention and is handling it as an inquiry with the employer. Information on the inquiry process can be found in OSHA’s Field Operation Manual, Chapter 9."