To Stop Deadly Hospital Infections in California Tell Governor Schwarzenegger to Sign Two Good Bills on His Desk

By Elizabeth (Betsy) Imholz<
Director of Special Projects
Consumers Union

Two bills on the Governor’s desk, SB 1058 (Alquist) and SB 158 (Florez), would help save lives and health care dollars by curbing preventable hospital infections.

More than 100,000 Americans die each year from these largely preventable infections. The Department of Health Services estimates that as many as 9,600 Californians die from hospital infections annually. Many more Californians suffer needlessly from infections and require extra care and longer stays in the hospital to recover. The Schwarzenegger administration estimates that hospital-acquired infections add a staggering $3 billion to health system costs in California each year.

Some hospitals do a better job than others at stopping them. What’s the precise extent of the problem in California and which hospitals are best at preventing them? The truth is we don’t know because hospitals don’t currently have to report them. These two bills awaiting signature by the Governor would require hospitals to do so, and also would make hospital infection rates public information so we can know which California hospitals do a good job. Nearly half the states in the nation require this kind of public reporting, but not California.

Families who have lost loved ones to hospital-acquired infections have pushed for passage of these laws, and thousands of Californians have sent emails supporting these bills. The state Legislature listened to them. Now we need to Governor to sign these bills into law.
Hospitals could reduce infection rates significantly through proper implementation of infection control practices, especially hand washing. Nonetheless, many hospitals put patients at risk by failing to follow these practices consistently. Unfortunately, current state oversight of California hospitals is inadequate when it comes to infection control practices.

According to the National Quality Forum, hand washing compliance rates at hospitals are generally less than 50 percent. Studies have shown that “sunshine is the best disinfectant,” and that publicly disclosing medical outcome information spurs quality, prevention and safety improvements and saves lives.

SB 1058, by Senator Elaine Alquist:

• Requires public disclosure of hospital-acquired infection rates by hospital. Doing so will encourage hospitals to prioritize their infection control efforts, do a better job of keeping patients safe, and also arm consumers with important information to evaluate their local hospital’s infection control track record. Twenty four other states have already adopted similar hospital infection reporting laws. Californians have the same right to know.

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