B.C. woman Beverlie Rolin is recovering after her broken hip surgery, but only after having her surgery cancelled twice at White Rock’s Peace Arch Hospital.
Her daughter, Hillary, spoke with Global News about the ordeal.
“They told her it was a sterilizing process as to why there was no surgery,” she said.
“She was taken down to the surgery. The doctors were all there, everything was all ready except for the operating room.”
Beverlie has a long history with the hospital. She first started out working as a kitchen staff member before becoming a nurse.
She later retired and became a volunteer at the hospital as well.
At 90 years old, her daughter said it was a tough time waiting for the surgery.
“She wasn’t able to move because she broke her hip,” Hillary said.
“She was in the same position for four days (at the hospital).”
Global News requested an interview with the hospital but received an email statement instead.
In a statement, Cathy Wiebe, Executive Director for Peach Arch Hospital, said the hospital “deeply regrets” the delay and impact.
She said the department where medical instruments used in surgery are cleaned and sterilized experienced an “unexpected technical issue.”
“Our team took immediate action to investigate and worked with our facilities maintenance department and equipment vendors to repair equipment,” she said.
“To ensure patient safety, we regrettably needed to reschedule some surgeries at the hospital.”
Hillary said her mother has gotten excellent care from the nurses and doctors at the White Rock hospital. She just hopes this never happens to someone else’s family.
According to Wiebe, the hospital is being supported by “other sites” and additional staff to ensure there are enough medical instruments on hand for all surgeries and procedures.