Burlington Clinic Under Investigation After Unsterile Needle Use Potentially Exposes Patients to Blood-Borne Infections
A Burlington, Ontario walk-in clinic, the Halton Family Health Centre Walk-in Clinic, is under investigation after it was discovered that unsterile needles were potentially used on patients between January 1, 2019 and July 17, 2025. This has led to concerns that approximately 1,000 patients may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.
Patient Concerns and Questions
Christine Lavalle, a concerned parent, expressed her distress after learning about the potential exposure through social media. Her child received stitches at the clinic following a playground incident. Like many others, she is grappling with unanswered questions, including how this could have occurred over a six-year period and why regular inspections seemingly didn't prevent it. Lavalle is now searching for answers and awaiting blood test results for her child.
"How did this happen?" – Christine Lavalle, concerned parent
Public Health Response and Investigation
Halton Region Public Health initiated an investigation on July 10 after receiving a complaint about the clinic. Dr. Deepika Lobo, the medical officer of health, stated that while routine inspections of medical offices are not conducted, inspections are triggered by complaints or reportable disease investigations. The public health unit recommends that patients who received local anesthesia during the specified period undergo testing for blood-borne infections as a precautionary measure, even though Dr. Lobo stated the risk of transmission is low.
Regulatory Oversight and Preventative Measures
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) is aware of the concerns and will investigate if a formal complaint is submitted or to inspect for professional misconduct. Dr. Dick Zoutman, an infectious disease control expert at Queen's University, suggests the issue might have been avoided by using single-use vials of anesthetic instead of multi-dose vials. He emphasized that multi-dose vials pose a cross-contamination risk if the same needle or syringe is reinserted into the vial for multiple patients.
"That's the risk of using multi-dose vials... it's just inviting trouble," - Dr. Dick Zoutman, Queen's University
Clinic's Response and Public Health Guidance
The Halton Family Health Centre Walk-in Clinic has not yet responded to requests for comment. Public Health Ontario guidance prioritizes single-use vials over multi-dose vials to minimize the risk of blood-borne transmission, emphasizing that "Patient safety should be prioritized over cost." The public health unit said staff did not follow proper infection control practices and as a result, "the anesthetic medication in multi-dose vials may have been contaminated with blood, and blood-borne infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, potentially infecting another person when the multi-dose vials were used again."
