Despite ongoing stains, almost all surgeries back on at Eastern Health

Eastern Health is still finding stains on surgical tool kits but it says the problem is having almost no impact on its scheduled surgeries.

 "[On Tuesday] no scheduled elective surgeries were postponed as a result of staining/residue issues on surgical equipment," said Eastern Health in a statement.

"Over the past week (since March 16, 2016), only one surgery has been postponed due to these issues."

Orthopedic surgery resumed

The health authority said it has also resumed its regular orthopedic surgery schedule.

"In addition, as of March 18, 2016, we have returned to a full orthopedic elective surgery list."

Eastern Health is continuing to monitor this issue closely.

We are making a great deal of progress.- Eastern Health

"While we are making a great deal of progress we continue to see some staining/residue. As a result, the Code Grey continues to be in place and will be reassessed at the end of the week," said its statement.

Code Grey refers to what Eastern Health describes as a "loss of utility" at a hospital. 

The discovery of a cluster of stained surgical tool kits forced the health authority to call down some scheduled elective surgeries in early February.

In the weeks that followed, hundreds of surgeries were postponed. The health authority says more than half of those postponed cases have now been done.

Eastern Health officials are investigating and trying to solve problems that have so far cost at least $3.7 million dollars.