Hospitals, heal thyselves

Hospitals should help heal people, not make them sick. Yet about one in every 20 patients contracts hospital-borne infections, according to a new study by the National Center for Policy Analysis. And more people die from those infections each year — about 103,000 — than die from AIDS, breast cancer and automobile crashes combined.
To their credit, Wesley Medical Center and Via Christi Regional Medical Center reportedly have infection rates lower than the national average, according to an Eagle news article. And they have infection officers who monitor problems and work to reduce infections.
Still, as the study indicated, hospitals can and should do more to keep their patients safe.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

3 Comments

  1. Damoon
    Posted December 29, 2005 at 9:50 am | Permalink

    If you have any infectious condition, please stay away from the hospitals. Don’t take kids to visit someone in the hospital during the flu season (they’re wonderful little germ carriers). WASH YOUR HANDS, WASH YOUR HANDS!!!! Remember, hospitals are FULL of sick people.

  2. Jed
    Posted December 29, 2005 at 1:42 pm | Permalink

    Hospitals are terrible places! Do you have any idea how many people die in them?

  3. Damoon
    Posted December 29, 2005 at 5:30 pm | Permalink

    Lol! Too many that’s for sure!