by Brianna Crandall — May 9, 2011—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Critical Care Societies Collaborative is recognizing 37 hospital and healthcare facilities for their efforts to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), a leading cause of death in the United States.
HAIs are infections that are acquired while patients are receiving medical treatment for other conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospital-acquired HAIs accounted for nearly 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths in 2002 and are responsible for $28 to $33 billion in preventable costs annually.
The organizations are the first to be recognized as part of a new national awards program to highlight teams of critical care professionals and healthcare institutions that achieve excellence and notable, sustained improvements in preventing HAIs, specifically infections in critical care.
HHS recognized the first ten facilities May 2 during the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ (AACN) National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition. The remaining 27 recipients will be honored throughout the year at the conferences of various CCSC member societies.
