Patients who went to a walk-in clinic west of Toronto are being notified by a public health unit that they may have been exposed to blood-borne infections as a result of the use of unsterile needles for more than six years. Halton Region Public Health said in a notice Wednesday that appropriate infection prevention and control measures were not followed when using multidose vials at Halton Family Health Centre Walk-in Clinic.
The notice says this lapse happened “intermittently” between Jan. 1, 2019 and July 17, 2025, potentially exposing patients to cross-contamination and transmission of infections.
The needles were used to inject joint injections, remove lumps, inject local anesthetic, freeze patients for IUD insertions, skin biopsies, and stitches. The public health unit recommends that HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C tests be administered to patients who attended the clinic during the specified time period. Deepika Lobo says that although there is a low risk of transmission, patients who might have been exposed should get tested as a precaution.
Unsterile needles used at Ontario clinic over six-year span, health unit warns
