May 28th, 2010

Reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Western Pennsylvania is way ahead of the country when it comes to attacking a deadly type of hospital-acquired infection, local health experts said Thursday after the release of a national report that shows the infection in decline.

The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said central-line bloodstream infections — common in very sick patients who have catheters placed in their necks — declined 18 percent between the period 2006-08 and the first six months of 2009. The region’s two leading hospital networks have achieved more significant drops, according to experts with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System.

“Our goal is zero infections,” said Dr. Sharon Kiely, vice president and chief quality officer at Allegheny General Hospital. Several patient floors and intensive care units in the North Side hospital have reported zero central-line infections in the past several years. “These infections are unacceptable.”

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