Oregon does better than the national average on health care-acquired infections, according to the latest report of infections released by the Oregon Health Authority. State officials say this is a good sign, but also shows that work can be done to reduce even more incidents of infections that people sometimes contract after being treated by health care providers. The Oregon Health Authority’s annual Hospital-Acquired Infections Report shows marked improvement in several areas: * Central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) in adult intensive care units has decreased 65% over the last five years and remain statistically better than the national average. * CLABSI in neonatal ICUs decreased by 29% over the last three years. In 2013 there were a total of six CLABSIs in NICUs in contrast to 20.3 predicted by NHSN. * Surgical Site Infections decreased by 7% in the last five years, which is statistically better than the national baseline. * Hospital onset Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections increased by 10% from 2012; however it remains below the national baseline. “Health care-acquired infections can be serious and costly. They are also largely preventable,” said Zintars Beldavs, coordinator of the Healthcare-Associated Infections Program at the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division. “This information shows how hospitals have improved patient safety over time. We are working closely with our partners in the health care community, as well as patient advocates, with the goal of eliminating these infections entirely.”
