“The Senate tonight passed major legislation to require hospitals to report the rate of infections that patients are exposed to in the hospital environment. Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Roy) has been working on this legislation for more than three years and said he’s pleased to see that this legislation is winning favorable support. While there are some differences in the bill that passed the House and the bill that passed the Senate, Campbell said this is a “good beginning.”

“The Senate bill is different than what passed the House, but it is a functioning Hospital-Acquired Infection reporting system,” Campbell said. “It will provide the public with the needed information to protect themselves from infections they didn’t have when they were hospitalized. And it will allow the state Dept. of Health to become a player in the process.”

Each year, two-million Americans who are admitted to a hospital are exposed to a variety of types of infection, some of which are central line-associated bloodstream infection in the intensive care unit; deep sternal wounds from cardiac surgery; and also associated infections on total hip and knee replacement surgery; hysterectomy; and other treatments.

“These are just some of the causes of as many as 90,000 deaths across the country each year because of hospital-acquired infections,” Campbell said, “infections that cost our health care system at least $4.5 Billion each year — and evidence is showing the dollar-costs are actually considerably higher.

“This bill will provide the public with needed information to protect themselves. The Dept. of Health will evaluate our state’s many hospitals and provide an annual report on the success rate of hospitals in minimizing such infections, Campbell said. House Bill 1106 passed the Senate by a 49 to 0 vote. It now goes back to the House for concurrence,” quoting Sen. Tom Campbell’s Press Release.

Ed. Note: Congratulations to Sen. Campbell on this landmark work which he sponsored!