Job Description

UT Health Rio Grande Valley Surgery Center, located in McAllen, TX, is a multispecialty ambulatory surgery center managed by Atlas Healthcare Partners. The center offers advanced surgical services in Orthopedics, Gastroenterology, and General Surgery within a patient-focused environment. Featuring 4 operating rooms and 2 procedure rooms, UT Health Rio Grande Valley Surgery Center delivers high-quality, efficient outpatient care through a skilled clinical team and streamlined processes, serving the McAllen community with accessible surgical solutions.

Responsible for the proper care and handling of all general and specialty instruments including the cleaning, decontamination, instrument identification, assembly, packaging and distribution, and sterilization of surgical instrumentation.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
• Decontaminates, assembles and packages all instruments following established protocols as well as perform necessary repairs, reassembles and stores specialized surgical instruments. Prepares all order requests as necessary for replacement parts for instruments and additional equipment as necessary or upon request of physicians.

• Maintains a clean and safe environment by adhering to Standard Precautions and Infection Control practices. Staff will don proper Personnel Protective equipment (PPE), follows protocols for decontamination process referencing Instructions for Use (IFU) supplied by the manufacturers.

• Identifies instruments for all specialties and assures proper function. Follows protocol for repair or replacement of instruments that are not functioning properly. Assembles and packages all instrumentation and sets according to dept. protocol. Utilizes equipment according to the manufacturer’s recommendations and hospital policy.

• Operates steam autoclaves, ETO and Gas Plasma sterilizers. Maintains appropriate logs and records relating to the sterilization process, including the Ethylene Oxide Aeration Records, Sterilizer Load Records, and Biological Monitoring Records.

• Responds to problem calls from the Operating Room and performs preliminary investigation. Determines priority level of instrumentation and equipment requests and other hospital needs. Directs services in a competent and professional manner while assuring OR priorities are completed in a timely manner.

Performs all functions according to established policies, procedures, regulatory and accreditation requirements, as well as applicable professional standards. Provides all customers with an excellent service experience by consistently demonstrating our core and leader behaviors each and every day.

NOTE: The essential functions are intended to describe the general content of and requirements of this position and are not intended to be an exhaustive statement of duties. Specific tasks or responsibilities will be documented as outlined by the incumbent's immediate manager.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
High school diploma or GED and BLS certification required. Requires current national certification as a SPD Technician, Certified Registered Central Service Technician or Surgical Instrument Processor and relevant experience with sterilizing instruments which qualifies the candidate for the national certification exam or certified registration.

Must have mechanical aptitude with the ability to break down moving parts, clean, lubricate and reassemble, problem solve incomplete trays and missing instrumentation and have effective organizational, communication and human relation skills.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Additional related education and/or experience preferred.