The government has notified Good Shepherd Medical Center in Lingview, Texas, that its contract will be terminated unless it addresses issues including nonsterile surgical instruments, according to an article on the Longview News-Journal website

The hospital learned it is not in compliance with minimum standards necessary to take part in Medicare and Medicaid. The Good Shepherd CEO said all problems will be resolved before an Aug. 6 deadline.

The Texas Department of State Health Services conducted a full survey of the hospital. The state agency's findings showed the hospital failed to ensure surgical instruments such as scopes used to perform colonoscopy procedures were properly cleaned after each use, "thus exposing patients to harmful bacteria."

"The hospital failed to monitor all areas where sterile instruments were used, including labor and delivery, surgery and the cardiac catheterization lab, to ensure that proper sterilization procedures were followed." 

Read the article.