Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Protect Patients, Prevent Deadly Hospital Infections
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed legislation that will create a robust prevention and surveillance system over deadly hospital infections—fostering improvements within hospitals and providing consumers with important information about hospital infection rates. Curbing hospital infections will also save health care dollars by reducing patients' length of stay and readmissions, as well as minimizing avoidable deaths and illnesses.
"These important measures will help save lives and health care dollars by reducing the number of infections that people are exposed to while staying in the hospital," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "Impr oving patient safety within hospitals and arming consumers with information about hospital infection rates will better protect Californians and improve the overall quality of health care."
SB 1058 by Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) establishes the Medical Facility Infection Control and Prevention Act or "Nile's Law," which requires hospitals to develop more comprehensive policies and procedures to improve and ensure effective infection control practices. It also requires the Department of Public Health to establish a health care acquired infection program that will receive reports from hospitals on specified hospital-acquired infection rates. In addition, hospitals would be required to screen certain high-risk patients for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and to provide instructions regarding aftercare and precautions to prevent the spread of the infection to others.
SB 158 by Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) expands upon the current responsibilities of the existing California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) Healthcare Associated Infections Advisory Committee. The bill requires hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to establish plans to improve patient safety. This bill also contains detailed training requirements for hospital infection control committee chairs, clinicians, and all licensed and non-licensed hospital staff.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that every year two million patients contract a hospital acquired infection while being treated for something else, and almost 100,000 die every year from these infections.
SB 891 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) builds on existing law that authorizes health facilities to practice Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by establishing the Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Pilot Program at CDPH. The program will authorize up to six eligible acute care hospitals that are licensed to provide cardiac catheterization laboratory service in California, and that meet prescribed, additional criteria to perform scheduled, elective primary percutaneous coronary intervention for eligible patients.
Actress, grieving mother speak to urgency of Florez' fight against hospital infections
FRESNO – Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, will be joined this Friday in Fresno by the mother of a young man who died from the ravages of a preventable hospital infection as he calls on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign a measure to address this growing threat to patients.
Senate Bill 158, designed to help curb a growing epidemic of healthcare-acquired infections (HAI), currently sits on the Governor's desk awaiting signature. According to the Department of Public Health, more than 250,000 patients who are admitted to California hospitals develop an HAI each year, 14,000 of which prove fatal. It is estimated that 70% of these HAI could be avoided with intensive monitoring and prevention measures, which Senate Bill 158 seeks to implement.
Speaking on behalf of the bill will be Carole Moss, who 15-year-old son Nile Calvin Moss succumbed to one of these so-called "superbugs," which have grown increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Her loss prompted Moss and her husband to become advocates for patient safety through their foundation, Nile's Project. Details can be found at http://www.nilesproject.com.
Actress and patient safety advocate Alicia Cole, herself the survivor of a near-fatal healthcare-acquired infection, traveled to Sacramento earlier this year despite her pain and fatigue to testify on behalf of SB 158, sharing with legislators graphic evidence of her terrifying experience. In 2006, a routine20procedure in a top-rated hospital led to a case of necrotizing fasciitis, more commonly referred to as "the flesh-eating disease," for which she continues to receive daily medical treatment. While Cole will be unable to travel to Fresno, Cole will speak on behalf of SB 158 Friday morning in Bakersfield and her story will be included in press packets for Fresno media.
Senate Bill 158 would require the Department of Public Health to report annually on the infection control measures being implemented and rate of HAI on a hospital-by-hospital basis, allowing Californians to make informed decisions about which hospital they choose to use. The measure would empower a panel of experts to continually review and improve the state's infection control programs and establish training requirements for hospital employees, particularly in hand hygiene.
Cole is the face of California's '5 a Day' Nutrition Program advertising campaign and has appeared on Eve, Veronica Mars, Silk Stalkings and Beverly Hills 90210, in addition to representing a wide range of companies in corporate industrial and training films.