Partnership will bring care facilities together to reduce infections

COLUMBIA — Hospitals across the state recently announced a new partnership in Columbia that will allow all 65 acute care facilities in South Carolina to work together to reduce the risk of health care associated infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths occur annually in America’s hospitals, at a price tag of $6.2 billion.

The program — the first of its kind in the nation, according to officials at the press conference — will rely heavily on research from Clemson, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina as to what the main causes of so many of these infections are. The three partners will spend roughly $1.7 million during the next three years trying to solve the mystery.

“This is something that goes on at every hospital,” state Rep. Terry Alexander, D-Florence, said. “To find out what is the cause of this, I think, is a very proactive thing for us to be doing.”

Health Sciences South Carolina, the South Carolina Hospital Association and the Premier Healthcare Alliance are the backbone of the program. Data provided by Premier estimates the program’s impact could save the state’s hospitals as much as $40 million a year and reduce the length of stay for S.C. patients by as many as 24,000 days annually.

Premier is an alliance of about 2,000 not-for-profit hospitals across the nation that are trying to lower the infection rates inside their facilities.

S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster, who attended the ceremony, said the endeavor would cost little but produce enormous results.

“This is the kind of collaborative endeavor that we can do in South Carolina better than they can in other places,” McMaster said. “People need their health because if you lose it, then you’ve got nothing.”

The program’s initial goals will be to determine what the infections’ main causes are, then to try and eliminate or reduce their occurrence.

If successful, the alliance hopes to also incorporate outpatient and short-term care facilities into its study.

Lynda Wymbs, chief quality officer for Carolinas Hospital System in Florence, said the alliance could only make a hospital visit safer.

“Putting infection control at the top of our agenda is so critical to the quality of life to our patients,” Wymbs said.

Carolinas’ 310-bed facility is the sixth largest of its kind in the state. In the most recent Healthcare Associated Infections Report from the CDC, Carolinas’ highest infection rate was roughly 13 percent for high risk patients undergoing a coronary bypass graft.

Wymbs said the hospital will contribute to the research project by benchmarking data on infections acquired at the hospital and share it with researchers at Clemson, MUSC and USC.

McLeod Health officials weren’t available to comment on the new partnership.