Nevada Inspections of Ambulatory Surgery Centers Continue

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Staff to Assist

CARSON CITY -- As Nevada State Health Division, Bureau of Licensure and Certification (BLC) surveyors continue the process of completed Focus Surveys of all fifty licensed ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) located in Nevada, help has arrived in the form of four infection control and epidemiology experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC staff are assisting BLC with onsite inspections and evaluations of protocols and procedures at ASCs in southern Nevada.

As of March 12, 2008, thirty ASC inspections have either concluded or are in the process of being completed. There are 19 ASC facilities in southern Nevada that remain to be inspected. With the addition of CDC staff and the plan to move BLC surveyors to the south upon completion of the Focus Surveys in the north by the end of the week, all inspections are expected to be completed by March 21, 2008.

State epidemiologist Ihsan Azzam, MD, MPH, said, "CDC epidemiologists are lending immediate support to our state by accompanying our BLC surveyors on their inspections, looking specifically at infection control procedures and practice. It is important to note that although deficiencies have been found at some additional ASCs identified in earlier reports, we currently do not have any evidence of disease transmission to patients due to problems with infection control practices. We know many people are rightly concerned about the hepatitis C investigation currently taking place in southern Nevada related to the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, but there has been no further evidence to date that any deficiencies discovered at other ASCs have led to any known infectious disease problems."

To view more information about ambulatory surgery center actions in the state, visit http://health.nv.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=639&Itemid=1416

To access information specifically about the hepatitis C investigation, visit http://health.nv.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=622&Itemid=1394

Source: Nevada State Health division

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