VHA Recognizes Hospitals for Efforts to Reduce MRSA Infections and Improve Patient Care

VHA Inc. recently recognized 13 hospitals in its Central Atlantic region for their efforts to improve patient care and reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections, specifically methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, which are difficult and expensive to treat if they develop.

In late 2007, CEOs from the VHA hospitals in the Central Atlantic region, which includes member hospitals in D.C., North Carolina, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Eastern Tennessee, established a collective, aggressive goal to reduce the incidence of MRSA infections by 80 percent in three years. By working with VHA, the group had reduced their MRSA infection rate by 39 percent by the end of 2009, the second year of the initiative. Some participating hospitals have already achieved or are close to achieving the final goal.

For their efforts to prevent MRSA infections, VHA recognized the following hospitals:

Bertie Memorial Hospital, Windsor, N.C.

Brunswick Community Hospital, Supply, N.C.

CarolinaEast Medical Center, New Bern, N.C.

Chowan Hospital, Edenton, N.C.

Duplin General Hospital, Kenansville, N.C.

Forsyth Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.

High Point Regional Health System, High Point, N.C.

Lexington Memorial Hospital, Lexington, N.C.

Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville, Huntersville, N.C.

Roanoke-Chowan Hospital, Ahoskie, N.C.

Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Harrisonburg, Va.

Sampson Regional Medical Center, Clinton, N.C.

Southside Community Hospital, Farmville, Va.

"Our hospitals are committed to working together to eliminate MRSA infections. These hospitals are to be congratulated for achieving such excellent results," said Terri Bowersox, director of performance improvement for VHA's Central Atlantic region. "They have successfully implemented infection prevention regimens that are leading practices and are achieving strong results. Other hospitals are now learning from them."

To achieve success in addressing MRSA infections, the hospitals adapted leading practice strategies from VHA's Leading Practice Blueprints™ including the blueprints that addressed MRSA reduction, urinary tract infections, surgical infections, bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia, and other resources from VHA's Leading Practices Portal™.