( CNN ) -- More than 5,000 patients of a South Dakota urology clinic may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV when the facility reused single-use medical products , state health officials said Friday . Clinic workers told inspectors they 've been reusing products since the clinic opened its doors in 2002 . The Siouxland Urology Center in Dakota Dunes has been ordered to contact nearly 5,700 former patients treated there since 2002 . A routine inspection found the facility was reusing sterile saline bags , tubing and other medical supplies from cystoscopies -- a diagnostic procedure that looks at the lower urinary tract . `` We witnessed the practice while we were in the facility , '' during a January inspection , said Barb Buhler of the South Dakota Health Department . Siouxland Urology has since been put under a provisional license and has been very cooperative , according to state officials . `` Siouxland Urology Center informed certain of its patients by U.S. mail that a prior cystoscopy procedure could have potentially exposed them to an infectious disease , '' the facility 's Web site said . It added that `` the risk of infection from our past procedure is very minimal and we are unaware of any blood infections in our patients caused by the cystoscopy practice . '' The clinic , which primarily serves clients from South Dakota , Iowa and Nebraska , is offering free blood tests to those possibly affected to rule out the presence of viruses .Watch more on the possible exposure of urology patients » . On January 21 , South Dakota Department of Health inspectors entered an examining room where a cystoscopy was about to take place , and noticed that a saline bag , which was hanging on a pole , was dated January 19 , said Bob Stahl , of the South Dakota Department of Health . The inspectors , who are registered nurses , questioned the clinic staff . The clinic staff said they routinely reused saline bags and tubing , although both are clearly marked `` for single use only , '' Stahl said . `` They used the bags and tubing on multiple patients , '' Stahl said . He said the workers at the clinic told the inspectors they 'd been reusing bags and tubing since the clinic opened in 2002 . They said they did n't see anything wrong with the practice , Stahl said . `` It was their standard operating procedure , '' Stahl said . `` They told the inspectors that this was a common practice all over the country . We disagreed and told them this was not a common practice . '' He said that the clinic had been inspected seven times since it opened , and no one had noticed that the clinic was reusing equipment . `` It was just by chance that this saline bag was hanging there . We run across these things by luck at times , '' Stahl said . `` We 're fortunate that the team was able to identify this . '' Fluids from patients can retreat into saline bags and tubing while the equipment is used , and reusing the tubing or saline bags could put patients at risk for contacting diseases from previous patients . A 1-liter bag of saline and tubing costs about $ 4 , according to Mary Jo Lallis , account manager for PSS World Medical , Inc. , a medical supply company . CNN 's Greg Morrison and Elizabeth Cohen contributed to this report .
Thousands of patients of a urology clinic possibly exposed to hepatitis and HIV . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the patient was infected with hepatitis B virus in late 2012 or early 2013. Staff told inspectors it was `` common practice '' everywhere ; inspectors disagreed . Nearly 5,700 former patients will be contacted , offered free blood tests .