2. Planning for future growth
Before our facility's rebuild, we had eight decontamination worksta-
tions. Now we have 12, but only nine of those are currently being used.
The other three are ready to go for when we add on more cases and
require more instrument reprocessing manpower. In terms of storage,
the last thing you want to do is say, "Well, we can probably squeeze in
extra capacity here." If anything, regardless of how well you plan,
you're going to have to get creative with finding additional storage.
One way: Strategically placed sterilizers. For example, install a dou-
ble-sided sterilizer right next to a storage area. That way the sterilizer
can be loaded one end and, when the sterilization is complete, opened
on the other end into the storage area for cool down. Also, use the
design phase as an opportunity to see where you can pare down your
instrumentation. With our increase in case volume, we anticipate
reprocessing approximately 200,000 trays per year (up from a 144,000
before the rebuild). When I started working here, I did away with 288
trays that we simply weren't using to make room for more storage
and more instrument racks.
3. Service for sterilizers
Low-temp sterilizers and steam autoclaves, which both can run
around $80,000, will be your biggest cash outlays. Cost is obviously
key, but it's far from the only factor you should consider when getting
vendor bids. Quality, additional offerings (does the vendor branch off
into instrument repair?) and timely service are just as important as
price when it comes to the equipment that's essentially the heart of
your SPD.
If your sterilizer goes offline and you put in a service call to your
vendor, the peace of mind in knowing that the vendor will be there
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