Arguably, the headline above represents one of those loaded questions whose answer can stir up dangerous consequences and serious repercussions.

If the question refers to the salaried department itself the short-sighted response may be yes. Economically, that would take a number of full-time equivalents off the books but would require the facility to contract with a comprehensive third-party reprocessing company to cover everything and/or an experienced management services firm specializing in sterile processing.

The challenge? Third-party reprocessing firms, by and large, aren’t in the hospital CS department management business. They offer reliable services and tools for the departments. And comprehensive outsourcing firms are nearly impossible to find. Sure, some manufacturers and consulting firms have ventured into CS/SPD outsourcing but the short-term results convinced them it was a short-lived brand extension. At best, a facility could duct tape together a series of outsourcing contracts with a variety of companies to cover the bulk, if not all, of CS/SPD operations.

But then you have to ask the question, why? Aren’t you just shifting costs and expenses to another budgetary account? And you still have to appoint someone to oversee and manage these contracts, whether you dedicate a new manager hire to the job or saddle one of your existing managers with the additional responsibilities, which would siphon their energies from their primary tasks.

If the question refers to the function of sterile processing the only answer is no. Thanks to the discovery of bacteria and viruses, the organic fuel for infection, healthcare facilities have no choice. A skilled and well-trained sterile processing infantry is the primary defense against those invading organisms.

Unlike those in the C-suite, middle management, finance, operations or the clinical specialties, sterile processing soldiers don’t require Ivy League experiences and pedigrees, grip-and-grin and wine-and-cheese business connections and "it’s who you know networking" strategies to get ahead. They don’t even really need a litany of unpronounceable acronyms behind their names to justify their expertise and placate their egos; although a coupling of letters indicating certification goes a long way toward elevating their street cred, giving comfort to their superiors who can reasonably assume that doctors and nurses armed with clean and sterile tools are safely caring for patients.

Sterile processing technicians and managers are artisans in their own right. Seriously. They merely have to have the knowledge and the patience to disassemble complex surgical instruments and medical devices, thoroughly clean every seen and unseen micrometer of material, reassemble the products, sterilize and/or package them and get them to the end users ahead of time. Many times. Daily. Without error. Because they know errors can lead to major problems with the patients and the fiscal health of their organizations. They think about this on the front end. Everyone else reacts to this on the back end, if and when problems emerge. If nothing goes awry, CS generally receives little to no attention. How unfortunate. And short-sighted.

One way to drive home sterile processing’s value is to borrow a page from Gray’s Anatomy – the medical textbook and not the popular and cleverly spelled soapy melodrama on television.

If the hospital can be classified as a body, sterile processing is the spleen. Basically, the spleen cleans and filters your blood, fighting off bacteria, viruses and debris that can lead to infection by creating and deploying white blood cells. Clinically, a person can live without a spleen because after it’s surgically removed for whatever reason other organs assume many of its functions. Unfortunately, people who don’t have spleens tend to be more vulnerable to a variety of infections. Hmm.

Just as white blood cells stave off infections and "white knights" help fend off unwanted corporate takeovers, so goes sterile processing soldiers in the war on microorganisms.

To celebrate National Healthcare Central Service & Sterile Processing Week, which occurs October 7-13, the American Society of Healthcare Central Service Professionals adopted one of the savviest promotional slogans in recent memory: Central Service Professionals – Instrumental in Healthcare.

It’s a mantra that should be as recognizable in the C-suite and throughout the healthcare organization as Coca-Cola’s cursive script and curvy bottle.

Catch the wave.