Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Michigan City Rated among Best U.S. Hospitals for Infection Prevention

fillerFranciscan St. Anthony Health-Michigan City is one of only 37 hospitals nationwide to receive Consumer Reports’ latest, highest rating for infection prevention.

Data collected from April 2012 to March 2013 shows Franciscan St. Anthony Health rated among the best in preventing surgical site and central-line infections and those stemming for urinary catheters, Consumer Reports’ website reported.

Infections often develop during or after surgery and can be traced to urinary or central-line catheters, which are used to provide intravenous nutrition, fluid and medication to seriously ill patients, Consumer Reports said, adding, its evaluation process includes information on each of the related categories and combines them into an overall rating that reflects a hospital’s ability to prevent infections.

“We know that hospitals can make changes to reduce infections and even drive infection rates to zero,” Doris Peters, PhD, director of Consumer Reports’ Health Ratings Center, said. “By shining a light on hospitals’ infection rates, consumers can find out which hospitals have done this successfully and which have not.”

James Callaghan, MD, hospital president, was pleased with the recognition, as was Janene Gumz-Pulaski, the hospital’s certified infection preventionist.

Said Callaghan, “We have a culture of effectively adopting known best practices and championing them. Our physicians, nurses and technicians, in a team-oriented environment, achieve strict compliance with measures designed to prevent hospital-acquired infections.

“As with our ‘A’ grade in patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, this national accolade demonstrates our commitment to and achievement of the highest quality of care and reflects the patient safety efforts that take place throughout Franciscan Alliance. The communities we serve can be confident that we provide this excellent care, close to home,” added Callaghan.