Hospitals Enrolled in the IHIs 100,000 Lives Campaign Show that Cases of VAP Can Drop to Zero

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) announced today that 14 hospitals enrolled in its 100,000 Lives Campaign have had no cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) for one year or more. 

VAP is a lung infection that can develop in patients dependent on mechanical ventilators to help them breathe. It typically occurs in intensive care units. Fifteen percent of patients on ventilators develop this serious complication.  VAP is a leading killer among all hospital-acquired infections, causing an estimated 26,000 deaths every year.

Launched in December 2004, the 100,000 Lives Campaign is the first-ever national initiative that aims to save a large and specified number of lives by a certain date (June 2006). The Campaign asks participating hospitals to implement six evidence-based interventions, one of which targets VAPs. A series of steps, such as raising the head of the bed to an angle of 30 degrees to 45 degrees, and making sure to wean patients off the ventilators as quickly as possible, can cut the deadly infection rate dramatically and, in the case of these pioneering hospitals, to zero.

The following hospitals report that they have eliminated VAP for one year or more, either throughout the hospital or in specific intensive care units:

·           Baptist Memorial DeSoto Southhaven, Miss.

·           Baptist Memorial Hospital Golden Triangle Columbus, Miss.

·           Bay Regional Medical Center Bay City, Mich.

·           Columbus Regional Hospital Columbus, Ind.

·           Dominican Hospital Santa Cruz, Calif.

·           McLeod Regional Medical Center Florence, S.C.

·           OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Peoria, Ill.

·           Overlake Hospital Medical Center Bellevue, Wash.

·           Palmetto Health Baptist Columbia, S.C.

·           Ridgeview Medical Center Waconia, Minn.

·           Sentara Norfolk  General Hospital Norfolk, Va. 

·           Sentara Williamsburg Community Hospital Williamsburg, Va.

·           University of Rochester Medical Center/Strong Memorial Hospital Rochester, N.Y.

·           Upper Chesapeake Medical Center Bel Air, Md.

In addition, the following hospitals have made extraordinary progress in reducing VAP, either throughout the hospital or in specific intensive care units:

·           Anaheim Memorial Medical Center Anaheim, Calif. no cases in 6 months;

·           Atlantic General Hospital/Health System Berlin, Md. no cases in 7 months and only one case in 13 months;

·           BryanLGH Medical Center Lincoln, Neb. no cases in 11 months;

·           Hilo Medical Center Hilo, Hawaii only one case in 12 months;

·           Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center Binghamton, N.Y. only one case in 15 months;

·           Swedish Medical Center Seattle, Wash. no cases in 5 months.

These results are truly remarkable testifying to the hospitals deep commitment to dramatically improve the quality of the health care they provide. These organizations have shown that ventilator-associated pneumonia, which occurs all too frequently in U.S. hospitals, is by no means inevitable, said IHI president and CEO Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP. The challenge now is to make these improvements permanent and to make this the new standard of care across the country.

The 100,000 Lives Campaign is supported through unrestricted philanthropy from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the Cardinal Health Foundation, the Colorado Trust, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Rx Foundation, Baxter International, the Blue Shield of California Foundation, and the Leeds Family Foundation. 

Source: Institute for Healthcare Improvement