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Geneva, IL —
Hospital-acquired infections are a challenge for all health care organizations, but Delnor Hospital officials believe their efforts have helped reduce cases in their patients.
Delnor has had no reported cases of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in a year and a half. That milestone was difficult to achieve, since patients are at greater risk of contracting infections at hospitals, especially if they have weakened immune systems or open wounds.
“It was difficult in the beginning,” said Dr. Steven Lewis, an infectious disease specialist at Delnor.
The hospital’s strategy involves regularly wiping down surfaces, washing hands, screening patients for MRSA (Delnor is one of only a few hospitals in the state currently taking this step) when they are admitted and prescribing antibiotics to those patients who are carrying the infection. Lewis said intervention letters were sent to staff members who did not follow the hospital’s strategy, such as by washing their hands when required.
“It’s hard to get people to change the way they see things,” Lewis said.
However, once the strategy became routine, Lewis said hospital staff members began to realize the effect they could have on reducing cases of MRSA.
Since September, Delnor also has had no cases of central line associated bloodstream infections, which can be caused when a catheter is inserted into a major blood vessel. Out of 10 hospitals in Kane and DuPage counties, the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Hospital Report Card ranked Delnor, Central DuPage Hospital, Adventist GlenOaks Hospital and Adventist Hinsdale Hospital in the top four in the category.
Officials say the hospital’s success can be largely attributed to an initiative called “Project Zero,” which was started by its Board of Directors in 2008. Project Zero requires that caregivers practice preventative steps such as hand hygiene, isolation precautions, and proven standards of care (evidence-based medicine) throughout the hospital to keep infections from occurring.
“This was a very deliberate effort,” Lewis said. “That’s unusual to have the board so involved.”
Delnor Board Chairman Bill Wolford said the hospital has always been a leader in this type of infection control, but the board wanted to take it to the next level and keep working toward a zero percent rate.
“If you want to change a culture of a company, it starts with the board of directors and administration and extends to physician and hospital staff,” Wolford said.
Hospital-acquired infections are a challenge for all health care organizations, but Delnor Hospital officials believe their efforts have helped reduce cases in their patients.
Delnor has had no reported cases of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in a year and a half. That milestone was difficult to achieve, since patients are at greater risk of contracting infections at hospitals, especially if they have weakened immune systems or open wounds.
“It was difficult in the beginning,” said Dr. Steven Lewis, an infectious disease specialist at Delnor.
The hospital’s strategy involves regularly wiping down surfaces, washing hands, screening patients for MRSA (Delnor is one of only a few hospitals in the state currently taking this step) when they are admitted and prescribing antibiotics to those patients who are carrying the infection. Lewis said intervention letters were sent to staff members who did not follow the hospital’s strategy, such as by washing their hands when required.
“It’s hard to get people to change the way they see things,” Lewis said.
However, once the strategy became routine, Lewis said hospital staff members began to realize the effect they could have on reducing cases of MRSA.
Since September, Delnor also has had no cases of central line associated bloodstream infections, which can be caused when a catheter is inserted into a major blood vessel. Out of 10 hospitals in Kane and DuPage counties, the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Hospital Report Card ranked Delnor, Central DuPage Hospital, Adventist GlenOaks Hospital and Adventist Hinsdale Hospital in the top four in the category.
Officials say the hospital’s success can be largely attributed to an initiative called “Project Zero,” which was started by its Board of Directors in 2008. Project Zero requires that caregivers practice preventative steps such as hand hygiene, isolation precautions, and proven standards of care (evidence-based medicine) throughout the hospital to keep infections from occurring.
“This was a very deliberate effort,” Lewis said. “That’s unusual to have the board so involved.”
Delnor Board Chairman Bill Wolford said the hospital has always been a leader in this type of infection control, but the board wanted to take it to the next level and keep working toward a zero percent rate.
“If you want to change a culture of a company, it starts with the board of directors and administration and extends to physician and hospital staff,” Wolford said.
Lewis said some health care professionals believe it is statistically impossible to reach a permanent zero percent infection rate. Still, he said, Delnor staff are excited to see how low they can go.
“I think we’ve all been surprised,” Lewis said. “If we can do it, anybody can.”
The challenge now is to sustain the low or zero percent rate, which Lewis said he thinks can be done with the hospital administration’s commitment.
"To the community, it means you're a lot safer than two years ago in relations to this particular issue," Lewis said.
He said the infection control strategy could be applied to other diseases, such as pneumonia.
“We learned a lot in this process,” Lewis said.
