Heat, steam, and chemicals help AdventHealth keep surgical procedures safe

AdventHealth Tampa’s new Taneja Center For Surgery is a six-story, gleaming tower in Tampa’s Uptown, with the largest operating rooms in the city. But the small surgical instruments get all the attention in AdventHealth's new, state-of-the-art Sterile Processing Department (SPD).

"It’s amazing," says Elizabeth Campbell, manager of the department. "It’s quicker, it’s higher quality, and it has all the bells and whistles." 

Heat, steam and chemicals are used to sterilize the tools to prepare them for surgery. 

"We get the surgery schedule every day," says Campbell. "We see what they’re going to need and we get that ready for them." 

There can be different sterilization procedures for many different instruments. Even the carts used to wheel instruments around the facility are sterilized in special "cart wash" machines.

The cycle never stops and there’s no room for error.

"With the job we do, if they miss something, it can be critical," says Campbell. 

Even robotic instruments have to be sterilized. There are also special protocols to deal with those instruments.

The Sterile Processing Department is fully operational, processing equipment from the existing hospital. The new Center for Surgery is scheduled to open October 12.