Hospital Maintains Impeccable Infection Record
The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) place Coffey County Hospital among national leaders with zero hospital-acquired conditions.
“Lately we have heard rumors about infection issues at the hospital but—as CMS confirms—nothing could be farther from the truth,” said Chief Executive Officer Dennis George. “Our record over the past twenty years is impeccable, and we want to assure the community that Coffey County Hospital takes every precaution when it comes to our patients’ health.”
Since 1991, Coffey County Hospital’s surgical site infection rate is .002 percent and its hospital-acquired infection rate is .105 percent. These numbers place Coffey County Hospital well below the national infection rates of 1.527 percent. Kansas hospitals rate even higher with 1.702 percent of patients experiencing preventable hospital-acquired conditions.
The CMS report further breaks down “hospital-acquired conditions” into eight categories: foreign objects retained after surgery, air embolisms, blood incompatibility, advanced pressure ulcers, falls and trauma, vascular catheter-associated infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and manifestations of poor glycemic control.
“Coffey County Hospital once again incurred zero incidents in any of these categories,” reports Elaine Weston, R.N. infection control officer. “We take great pride in assuring our patients’ safety.”
12-lead ECG Class Receives Rave Reviews
Eighteen Coffey Health System employees recently completed advanced training in a dramatically different approach to cardiac monitoring, which is similar to the concept of a home energy audit. To evaluate the efficiency of a home heating system, a technician does more than simply look at the heater: he checks the ventilation system throughout the house. The same principle applies to assessing a potential heart attack victim: a paramedic will initiate an electrocardiogram (ECG) using twelve or fifteen electrodes/leads placed at strategic points throughout the body. By doing so, emergency personnel are better able to assess the patient—even before they arrive at the hospital.
“EMS practice today is dramatically different than in the past,” explains James Higgins, director of Coffey County EMS. “Instead of simply monitoring heart rhythm, we’re now using twelve-lead ECG as a diagnostic tool. Diagnosing a heart attack is time-critical, so having paramedics trained to use this technology is a significant advantage for our patients.”
Coffey Health System staff who recently completed advanced training in the twelve-lead ECG technique include Coffey County EMS paramedics Adam Freerksen, James Higgins, Craig Huddleston, Derek Montgomery, Sam Murrow, Vernon Peters, Roy Rickel, Jered Schulte, and Aaron Williams; Coffey County Hospital Registered Nurses Shelly Karmann, Jo Neill, Robyn Spielman, and Melanie Yokum; Respiratory Therapists Melinda Pattinson and Amanda Schulte; and Wolf Creek Health Services Physician Assistant Barbara Nelson and Paramedic Terri Lawson.
The one-day class, held on August 18 at Coffey County Hospital, also attracted 38 healthcare professionals from throughout the state. The class was sponsored by Coffey Health System.
“This type of training saves lives,” Higgins explained. “Bob Page is an internationally-recognized expert in the twelve-lead technique. To bring his level of expertise to Coffey County Hospital sets a high standard for our program. In addition to being a well-qualified paramedic and author, he has presented seminars throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and in Europe.”