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A Little Bit of History The first infection prevention and control efforts in the United States began in hospitals in the 1050's with the growth of intensive care and increasing staphylococcal infections. Infection prevention and control programs were found in thousands of hospitals in the late 1960's and 1970's, changes to these programs have occurred as a result of state and federal agencies, profressional and nonprofit organizations, and scientific information published in journals. The 21st century brought oversight and interest by patient safety organizations. The modern concept of infection nprevention and contol also includes areas other than healthcare associated infections (HAIs) these areas include risk to employees, disaster planning, and maintenance and evaluation of the physical environment. Changes in the healthcare industry over the past few decades have placed increased demands on infection prevention programs. Infection preventionist are alert to changing recommendations/requirements, scientific literature, and guidelines, and make appropriate modifications to infection prevention programs. In addition, local and state requirements must be followed. Currently Blue Mountain Hospital employs an Infection Control Preventionist who focuses on the prevention of infections. Her role involves daily collaborative efforts within all facets of healthcare. The infection preventionist functions as a consultant, educator, role model, researcher and change agent. Responsibilities include education, consultation, surveillance, prevention and control, and quality improvement. Her time is split among data management, policy and procedure development, consulting, and investigating protential outbreaks. Blue Mountain Hospital has adopted a national goal of "ZERO TOLERANCE" relating to not tolerating even one hospital-acquired infection. Blue Mountain Hospital is currently encouraging staff, patients, and visitors to wash their hands before, during and after coming in contact with potentially harmful pathogens. It is okay to ask your healthcare provider if they are practicing good hand-hygiene during patient care. This is important and in compliance with CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline for hand washig and hand hygiene. Hand washing and good hand hygiene is the number one act a person can do to prevent the transmission of harmful bacteria and disease. In 2006, the Joint Commission announced a new standard for infection prevention that requires critical access hospitals to offer influenza vaccinations to staff members. Blue Mountain Hospital's flu vaccination acceptance among BMH employees increased from 37% in Feb. 2008 to 70% in Feb. of 2009. Public reporting of HAI (Hospital acquired infections) is now being mandated by several states, Oregon being one of them. Blue Mountain Hospital is a member of NHSH (National Halthcare Safety Network) which is a primary nationa database. Surveillance criteria and data for identifying HAIs are reviewed and monitored giving all member hospitals the ability to compare and benchmark their own HAI peformance results. Blue Mountain Hospital-acquired infection rate for the year 2008 was 0% compared to the national rate of 2-5%. In 2008, CMS instituted a nonpayment positin for the treatment of 10 Hospital-associated conditions, among the several infections. These requirements underscore the need for hospitals to measure and reduce the recurrence of HAIs or potentially receive a lesser reimbursement for patient care. The world of infection control is currently experiencing major changes. Change is good and forces us to stretch ourselves a little farther. Infection Control and Prevention involves everyone who is involved with healthcare to others. It is a collaborative an cooperative program. Our goal and expected outcome is safety to our staff and the patients we care for. Swine Flu Facts |
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| 170 Ford Road, John Day, OR 97845, (541) 575-1311 | ||||||||||
