Hospital to resume surgical procedures

MACHIAS – Elective surgical procedures are expected to resume Monday at Down East Community Hospital, hospital officials said Friday.

Surgical procedures were suspended for three weeks when an infestation of a small insect, springtails, was discovered in the three operating rooms. Although they are harmless to humans, hospital officials decided to suspend all open surgeries until the pesky bugs could be eliminated. Lois Macias, DECH chief operating officer, said no springtails have been found recently.

Surgeries on 50 patients were postponed or referred to other hospitals. Hospital officials had said that they would resume open surgeries when insect traps were free of springtails for at least 48 hours.

Although the springtail problem may be behind them, some of the steps the hospital took to rid its operating rooms of invading insects may have violated state pesticide regulations. State agencies are investigating what appears to be unlicensed applications of pesticides in a public facility and pesticide label violations, including use of an outdoor insecticide in an indoor setting.