A southwest New Mexico hospital is in hot water with the state after inspectors found that it hasn’t been keeping up with its hazardous waste.
Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City received a notice in May from the Environment Department (NMED) that alleged it was in violation of state hazardous waste laws.
State inspectors checked the hospital out in October and deemed it a “Large Quantity Generator” of hazardous waste. Waste streams at the medical center reportedly include damaged and expired pharmaceuticals and flammable, corrosive and toxic waste produced through various processes, operations and activities in the hospital.
Despite this, inspectors say that Gila Regional has failed to properly train staff to conduct weekly inspections of the hazardous waste containers stored in the hospital’s Central Accumulation Area (CAA). Employees did not appear to have received training in this area, and some weren’t even aware of the requirement.
Luckily, the inspectors also noted that there wasn’t any hazardous waste located in the CAA at the time of the inspection.
The hospital was also admonished for failing to develop a hazardous waste contingency plan as required by law.
The notice served as an informal enforcement response with no attached penalties, but Gila Regional is expected to address each of the violations or it may face elevated enforcement actions.
