Navigating Dirty Waters: Lessons Learned from a Water Intrusion Event

Session Description: This oral presentation will share details on a hospital’s comprehensive response and critical lessons learned following a Category III water intrusion event caused by the failure of a sanitary line. The incident significantly impacted key operational areas within a 479 licensed-bed acute care facility, including Materials Management, Sterile Processing Department (SPD) and Surgical Services.
The extent of water intrusion and Category III contamination resulted in the loss of in-house sterile processing services, disrupting surgical operations, as well as the internal supply material management warehouse, posing significant logistical and operational challenges for the hospital.
Several complex issues arose during the response effort, including the identification of asbestos containing materials (ACMs) in existing flooring material, underlying infrastructure concerns with plumbing throughout the SPD space, and the operational challenges associated with transporting sterile instruments between facilities in a high-humidity climate. Evidence-based best practice guidelines were applied to safely operationalize the reprocessing of reusable sterile instruments at an off-site location, while infection prevention risk assessments were utilized to guide appropriate construction barrier precautions and evaluate potentially compromised supplies.
This presentation will describe the incident timeline and the multidisciplinary response efforts taken to manage and remediate the impacted areas. The presentation will also highlight how a structured, systematic approach was used to guide abatement, remediation, and restoration activities. In addition, this presentation will share how the hospital team leveraged both division and corporate-level subject matter expertise and resources to maintain patient safety throughout the event.
Through this presentation, attendees will gain insights into practical strategies for navigating complex environment of care events in hospital settings, the importance of multidisciplinary coordination, and the need for proactive infrastructure planning in disaster preparedness efforts.

Nychie Dotson

Assistant Vice President Infection Prevention, HCA Healthcare, West Florida Division

Dr. Nychie Q. Dotson, PhD, MPH, CIC, CPHQ, FAPIC, AL-CIP has over 18 years of experience in infection prevention in acute care settings with extensive experience in quality, patient safety, and public health. She currently serves as the Assistant Vice President of Infection Prevention for HCA Healthcare, West Florida Division, where she leads, directs, and supports infection prevention operations to decrease the incidence and transmission of infectious diseases and healthcare associated infections across 18 hospitals and supporting free standing emergency departments. Nychie is accepted as a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Fellows and has previously served as a member of APIC's annual conference committee, APIC Chapter President for the Bay Area Professionals in Infection Control (2015) and President for the Florida Professionals in Infection Control (2020). Nychie currently serves on the Board of Directors for APIC Consulting Services.

Benjamin Galvan

Director, Infection Prevention, HCA Florida JFK Hospital

Benjamin is a board-certified infection prevention director with HCA Florida Healthcare. Since 2018, Benjamin has demonstrated a passion for infection prevention and patient safety by leveraging interdisciplinary collaboration and performance improvement methodologies to improve health outcomes. In June 2021, Benjamin was awarded the inaugural Emerging Leader in Infection Prevention award by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and was selected as a rising star in healthcare by Becker’s Hospital Review in 2022. In 2015, Benjamin attained his bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and is presently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Health at the University of South Florida.