Maryellen Keenan, a 22-year veteran at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Michele Mauzerall, who launched and grew multiple businesses over the years, are about to revolutionize sterilization in the hospital.
It’s no secret that the medical establishment is engaged in a type of biological warfare in the OR. And with precious few advances in the sterilization realm over the past 30 years—and the projected rise in total joint and spine surgeries—it is about time for one.
It’s been a long time coming, but, for Kennan, it all started at HSS. “I was both fortunate and privileged to learn the orthopedic ropes from pioneers such as John Insall, Chit Ranawat and Russ Warren. I saw every new implant and technology you can imagine. And because I arranged for the vendor contracts, I became well versed in all of them. I required each vendor to submit FDA clearance and contraindications for all new implants and medical devices coming into the hospital. On top of that, every time the SPD (sterile processing department) management position was vacant, I was asked to help fill in. That allowed me to really observe workflow and productivity reports to see where the inefficiencies occurred.”
“During my years at HSS I cultivated great relationships with industry leaders. After leaving HSS the CEO of an orthopedic company gave an entrepreneur my name, promising that I was the one to assist him with bringing his product to the market. This was the original owner of the intellectual property (IP) on what would become the SteriCUBE System.”
Mauzerall Joins the Sterilization Revolution
It was a true “Eureka” moment says Keenan. “At the first meeting with this entrepreneur I knew that this technology would forever alter how we sterilize trays. I asked Michele Mauzerall, who had years of entrepreneurial experience with launching and growing businesses including marketing, medical practices and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), to collaborate on this with me. At the time she was in the process of launching an OR efficiency business. This sterilization technology was so promising, however, that we both decided to solely focus on bringing it to market. We obtained exclusive rights from the IP owner and began distributing the first version of a multiple tray sterilization system in the U.S.”
The SteriCUBE System is a portable multiple tray sterilization container that drastically reduces contaminated trays from the OR. Manufactured by PMBS, LLC of Gulfport, Florida, this mobile sterilization system also does away with the tons upon tons of wrappers that end up in landfills each year.
Imagine all of the trays for one procedure being sterilized at once: trays from outside vendors, trays owned by the hospital, and power equipment. And because none of the items needs to be individually wrapped, there is no possibility of contamination via holes or tears or undetected wicking of germs through the paper when inappropriately handled.
