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MRSA reporting in Maine

My proposal, LD1038, addressed MRSA reporting. My intent with this reporting was to make MRSA a reportable infectious disease in the State of Maine, and also to make hospitals accountable for the number of vulnerable patients who become infected after being hospitalized. So, my hope was to have two categories of MRSA positive cultures for reporting purposes, “Positive on Admission” or Positive while hospitalized”. There is a big difference here. It is believed that over 80% of MRSA infections are healthcare related. It is time to hold healthcare providers accountable for the infections people acquire while in their care.
During the Health and Human Services committee hearings, after I made huge concessions on my bill, Maine State Nurses Association and I were given seats in the Maine Quality Forum Infection control collaborative to help make the decisions regarding MRSA and other Health Care Infections prevention. As far as I know, I am a full fledged member of this Infection control Collaborative and so I will readdress the issue of MRSA reporting in future meetings.
Essentially at my first (non productive) meeting with the MQF, I was told that there would only be reporting of the number of patients who were determined to be high risk and the number who were screened. This tells the health care consumers nothing. We already know that about 15 to 20% of the general public are MRSA colonized. What consumers want to know is how many  full fledged lethal and disabling MRSA infecitons are coming out of our hospitals. What I want to know is exactly that!
My father was infected because of lax and inadequate infection control in his hospital. He had no screening on admission and the two other vicitms who died in the month prior to his admission did not have any screening either. So, until they were diagnosed with full fledged lethal and terminal MRSA infections with a clinical culture after they were likely housed with unsuspecting and uninfected patients. I wish I had a way to find out who was roomed with those two other patients, just to see if any of them became infected. My guess is that they did. And so it goes. An undetected infection goes on until it can’t be ignored anymore. In the mean time, unsuspecting and vulnerable patients are roomed with those infected patients, until doctors figure out that the roommate is infected. They become either colonized or infected and then they infect others…on and on it goes.
If the MQF has a true desire to stop these infections, they must know first how many there are. It is my opinion that they already do know and that unless MANDATED, they will never reveal or report the true numbers of these infections. I was told that by reporting the infections the way I suggested, “it would not reflect an accurate picture of the problem”. And I suppose their way of reporting WILL paint an accurate picture? I think the problem is huge and they would have to be brutally honest and report all acquired infections for there to be a true depiction of the problem.
If the MQF does not bend on this reporting, or on the high risk screening, I will work to get a mandate. There is always January to begin again with proposals and bills and new laws. I am way past the feeling that hospitals are untouchable. My family and I have been personally harmed and my father has been killed by hospital error. He was infected by MRSA and it was preventable. It is time for these publicly funded and operated facilities to answer to consumers, and the public about their inadequacies and then begin the work of effective prevention and reporting in their practices.
No longer will consumers sign away their lives on consents that allow hospitals to give them infections and not hold them responsible. No longer will patients tolerate being housed with infected or colonized patients and be put at risk by their hospital for serious life threatening infections. No longer will hospitals be allowed to keep all of this infection mess secret. No longer will they stay at status quo, act liket hey are doing a bang up job and be allowed to continue to kill people in their care.
Maine hospitals have a long way to go before they will regain my trust and respect. I hope to help them along with that.

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