Welcome
Hospital Proud of its Patient Safety Record
VP of Quality publishes GHCH Infection Rates.
The following Letter to the Editor was published in The Daily World on Tuesday, June 24, 2008:
Dear Editor,
This is in response to John Dahlbeck’s June 16 letter to the editor headlined “National health care not all it is cracked up to be.”
In our opinion, any debate about the delivery of health care is worthwhile.
Dahlbeck raised the issue of unacceptably high medical mistakes and infections in our hospitals.
We agree that medical mistakes and infections are unacceptable. At Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen, we constantly monitor and report infections and “Unanticipated Outcomes” to both the Washington State Department of Health and the Joint Commission, the national organization that inspects and accredits hospitals.
Additionally, this information is given monthly to the hospital Board of Directors during “Quality, Safety & Compliance” meetings, and to medical staff at our Quality Utilization Review meetings. We are very proud of our excellent performance.
The following data are for the year to date as of May 31:
* Ventilator associated pneumonias: 0.48 percent (two cases out of 414 ventilator Days).
* Central line infections: Zero Cases
* Surgical site infections: 0.3 percent (nine cases out of 2,594 surgeries).
* MRSA: There have been zero cases of patients receiving MRSA in our hospital. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium responsible for difficult-to-treat infections in humans. We have, however, positively tested 262 community members seeking care. In Grays Harbor County, there have been numerous cases of “hospital-acquired” MRSA. These are all patients seeking diagnosis and treatment at our hospital. In other words, they already had hospital-acquired MRSA when they sought care at our facility.
* Urinary tract infections: .13 percent (two cases out of 1,516 catheter days).
* Pressure ulcers: 1.25 percent prevalence (Pressure ulcers that developed in the hospital).
Specific quality indicators related to heart attack, pneumonia, surgical procedures and patient satisfaction are reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and are available to the public on their Web site: www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov. You can look up Grays Harbor Community Hospital’s quality of care, and compare it to other hospitals in these areas of treatment.
Currently, data related to infection are not easily available to residents in Washington State. Beginning July 1, Grays Harbor Community Hospital’s new Web site will have monthly updates on infections to date. That address will be: www.ghchwa.org. Check back July 1 to see that, and other new information available as well.
Marilyn Heger-Guy, Ph.D.
Vice President
Quality, Risk & Compliance
Grays Harbor Community Hospital