Letter: Hospitals working against infection
Percentage of STEMI deaths among inpatients three times higher than among outpatients, researchers report Credit: HealthDay
The story about Clostridium difficile and antibiotic resistance [" 'It's violent pain,' " News, April 1] neglected to mention the impressive work of some New York State hospitals -- including several on Long Island -- in addressing the issue. Indeed, the very Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report referenced in the story highlighted the strong success of the C. difficile Collaborative -- a joint effort of the Greater New York Hospital Association, the United Hospital Fund and New York State Department of Health.
The C. difficile Collaborative was launched in 2008 to reduce C. diff in hospitals throughout the greater New York City region. Over 22 months, hospitals implemented evidence-based infection prevention practices and standardized cleaning protocols specific to C. diff.
As the CDC report mentioned, participating hospitals saw a 20 percent reduction in hospital-associated C. diff infections. And since preventing C. diff requires not only these measures but is also related to antibiotic exposure, GNYHA and UHF also led a successful "antimicrobial stewardship" project to help hospitals establish programs to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics.
Infections are a major, never-ending challenge, but hospitals are working very hard to address them.
Kenneth E. Raske, Manhattan
Editor's note: The writer is the president of the Greater New York Hospital Association.
