Some surgeries resume at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center after mold discovery

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center re-started elective surgeries after abruptly halting the procedures due to the discovery of mold contamination in a room used to sterilize surgical equipment.

The facility's central sterile processing room suffered water damage and mold contamination caused by a water leak, according to

the hospital's Chief Medical Officer Brad Spellberg.

Spellberg halted non-elective surgeries at the 600-bed medical center Wednesday. A regular surgery schedule was expected to resume in two weeks.

State medical officials said they had opened an investigation. There was no evidence that mold affected any surgical instruments. No patients were harmed.

Officials from two state health departments said there would be a number of inspections including surprise visits by surveyors.

L.A. County-USC Medical Center, which is relatively new, is one of the largest public hospitals in the country and serves some of the county's poorest and most vulnerable people.

It was relocated from its old Depression-era building in 2008 to a new, $1.02 billion facility.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.