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Surgeries in this Canadian hospital postponed due to 'ants within the operating room'
A hospital in the small town of Carman, Man., has had to postpone some of its elective surgeries due to what some are calling an invasion of ants.
Hospital staff are shying away from that term, and told a local news outlet : “No, there is no infestation.” But the fact remains that there are ants in the hospital for the third year in a row.
“Southern Health-Santé Sud can confirm that a limited number of elective surgeries at Carman Memorial Hospital have been temporarily postponed due to the presence of ants within the operating room,” a spokesperson for the regional health authority told National Post in an email.
“Ants were first detected in August 2024, but the issue resolved within a few weeks,” the spokesperson added. “When they reappeared last summer, the region took the necessary steps to address the situation. With the recent seasonal reappearance, it has been determined that more extensive measures are required to support a long-term solution.”
The spokesperson said the region is working with a professional exterminator to identify the source of the ants and implement additional measures to get rid of them.
“Any factor that could impact the safety or integrity of the operating room environment requires the suspension of surgical activity until the issue can be resolved,” the spokesperson noted. “The safety of patients, staff and physicians is paramount.”
The hospital has reached out to affected patients to work through options to reschedule their surgeries, they added.
Carman is an agricultural town of about 3,000 people in Manitoba’s Pembina Valley Region, and is about 40 minutes southwest of Manitoba. The 28-bed Carman Memorial Hospital on the south edge of town was built in 1982 and is served by several doctors and a staff of 75.
A Health Canada guide to ants recommends tolerating them in the garden since they can be beneficial, but notes that several species are known to invade buildings, including the carpenter ant, the little black ant, the odorous house ant, the thief ant and the pharaoh ant.
It recommends removing access to food and water, repairing and sealing any visible cracks in the foundation and exterior walls, and using one or more poisonous bait systems, which the ants will take back and feed to the colony.
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