Hospital pioneers 
instrument sterilizing

CHICAGO – Cook County’s Stroger Hospital is going green with its medical instrument cleaning.

The hospital says its new system for sterilizing medical devices is the first of its kind in the Chicago area.

It uses oxygen, water and electricity to create an ozone-based sterilization process. The system is billed as nontoxic and nonpolluting, unlike the older ethylene oxide sterilizer. That took 20 hours to operate and raised safety concerns for users and the environment.

Cook County Health & Hospital System CEO Bill Foley said the new green system would reduce sterilization costs.

The hospital plans a news conference demonstration later this month when the system is fully in place.