Well done!

Deep in the CHUV’s underbelly, the sterilisation unit starts humming with activity. Dirty surgical trays have been delivered. They have come straight from the cardiac operating room upstairs, where an instrumentalist has collected everything that might have been touched. These instruments then undergo a thorough cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation process that lasts a total of about four hours. “Our job is extremely technical, requiring precision and the utmost care,” says Christophe Grange, chief of the unit. “We work to make sure that, ultimately, patients can be cared for safely.”

The sterilisation unit operates every day of the year and employs 65 people, who work in two shifts throughout the day. It processes the medical devices and surgical instruments from the CHUV’s operating rooms, maternity unit, outpatient hospital and orthopaedics unit, as well as from around 40 external facilities, including clinics and the Vaud prison. The unit also trains apprentices, “but we’re having trouble finding people,” Christophe Grange says regretfully. The director also teaches part of a certificate training course created in 2018 in medical device technology.