Those were the findings of the Hospital-Acquired Infection Report issued this week which identified infections developed in patients at hospitals across New York State. The report found that CMH fell within the statistical average of hospitals for instances of patients developing infections across a host of factors based on hospital staff-reported information.
CMH reported infections in only three of the twelve categories. The other nine did not apply to CMH because it does not perform those procedures.
In all, only six patients developed infections out of nearly 800 potential instances. |
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“We are very happy to see that, compared to other hospitals in the state, our data was comparable to the state average,” said Dr. Norman Chapin, medical director at the Hudson facility.
Columbia Memorial Hospital reported three hospital-acquired infections in patients with central line catheters out of 691 patients, a 4.3 percent infection report. A central line catheter is a flexible tube inserted into the body to provide fluids or medication and placed near the patient's heart or one of the large veins or arteries. The statewide rate of infection for central line infections was 2.2, but CMH fell into the statistical average based on the number of procedures and other mathematical factors, state officials said.
CMH also reported one instance of a hospital-acquired infection in a colon surgery patient (a 1.7 percent ratio) and one infection in a hip surgery patient (a 1.3 percent ratio). The state average for colon surgery was 4.4 percent and 1.1 percent for hip procedures.
By comparison, Albany Medical Center reported a 6.3 percent rate of hospital-acquired infections for colon surgeries (22 out of 360 procedures) and St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany reported a 3.7 percent rate (13 out of 383). For central line procedures, Albany Medical Center reported a 2.5 percent (11 out of 4,448 procedures) infection rate and St. Peter’s reported a 1.8 percent (5 out of 2,708). For hip surgeries, Albany Medical Center had a 2.2 percent rate (10 out of 521) and St. Peter’s a 1.8 percent rate (5 out of 2,708).
New York is one of only seven states in the country to issue a report on infection results in each hospital in the state. Legislation enacted in 2005 requires mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infections for four selected surgeries and eight infections related to catheters used in intensive care units. In the first year information was released, the data made public only listed statewide results and not hospital-specific information.
Chapin said that while CMH is pleased with the report, there is always room for improvement. “I am happy we are where we are, but the hospital is working really hard on the initiatives to further reduce the risk of infections,” he said.
An example is the hospital’s response to central line infections. “With central line infections, there is a bundle of things we have implemented to reduce the frequency,” Chapin explained, including the use of draping to isolate the procedure site, maintaining sterility at the site, and the use of a room observer whose duty it is to observe the physician to make sure there is “no break in sterile technique.”
“Our goal is to make sure we hold on to the gains we have made and improve where we can,” Chapin said.
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