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The State Board of Health meets at the Grant Sawyer building in Las Vegas Friday, August 13, 2010.
Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas, Part 2
- A hidden epidemic
- Hospital stay will stay with her always
- VA system stanching MRSA
- Hospital’s sanitation promises quickly forgotten
- Billing codes key to data analyzed on infections
- Where I Stand: Rise in infection rates, hospitals’ reticence are troublesome
- Editorial: Hospitals should do more to protect patients from deadly bacteria
- ‘We’re the ones who are in there. Our lives are entrusted to them.’
- Health board backs limits on disclosure of infections
- How best to stem spread of infection?
- St. Rose breaks ranks with disclosure on quality of care
Share your stories
The divide over whether the public should know the specific hospitals where patients are contracting lethal “superbugs” was clear at Friday’s meeting of the state Board of Health.
There were those who champion transparency — believing that revealing where the problems are will force officials to address them.
And there were those who oppose it.
The discussion centered on proposed regulations stemming from a law passed during the 2009 Legislature. The new law mandates that health care facilities report certain infections, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Nevada State Health Division could then access the information to track infections. But under the proposed rules, those data would not be available to the public, at least in any way that would allow patients to identify the number of infections at any particular medical facility.
Those opposed to giving the public access to the infection data included hospital lobbyists, public health and infectious disease specialists and, in the end, apparently, the Board of Health, which took no stance in favor of public reporting.
On the side of transparency were an insurance lobbyist, a state lawmaker and the families of patients who have been infected with drug-resistant bacteria while hospitalized.
One family member questioned whether hospitals should be able to self-report in the first place.
“You’ve got Dracula in charge of the blood bank here because (hospitals) can choose what they want to report,” said Steve Winters of Reno, whose mother died after contracting multiple infections in Northern Nevada hospitals.
A Las Vegas Sun analysis of hospital billing records on file with the state found that hospital-acquired infections from MRSA and another drug-resistant bug, Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, are a growing problem in Las Vegas. In 2008 and 2009, there were 2,010 cases at local hospitals. Two hundred thirty-nine of the infected patients died, although it’s impossible to tell from the billing records how or whether the infections factored in the patients’ deaths.
State Sen. Shirley Breeden, D-Henderson, who sponsored last year’s legislation, Senate Bill 319, said the regulations are a good start but more transparency is needed so the public knows where the infections occur. Breeden’s father was infected with MRSA during a Las Vegas hospital stay, she said.
Theresa Brushfield told the board that her 48-year-old daughter was infected with MRSA at a Las Vegas hospital. Everyone who entered her room was supposed to wear a protective gown to prevent the spread of the bacteria, yet many nurses, food servers and custodial workers ignored the order, Brushfield said.
She told the board that hospitals should be required to post signs in the rooms of infected patients, directing people to call the Health Division, which licenses hospitals and investigates complaints. (People with complaints about health facilities can reach the Health Division at 486-6515 ext. 237).
The Nevada Hospital Association, the industry’s main lobbying group, which has argued for years against identifying facilities where patients contract such infections, testified in favor of the regulations that protect hospitals from having to disclose their data publicly. Bill Welch, president and CEO of the association, said he is in favor of “meaningful transparency,” a term he did not define.
A representative of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology testified that the group also supports transparency and public reporting, yet still supported the regulations.
Dr. Randall Todd, a Washoe County epidemiologist, asked that public health officials be allowed to see which facilities are reporting infections. He said he supported the regulations.
The Board of Health did not debate the issue.
Board members — including doctors, a dentist and a veterinarian tasked with a mission of ensuring “good sanitation is practiced and there is a minimum risk of contracting disease or experiencing disabling unintentional injury” — made no substantive comments on transparency. Nor did they question hospitals about infection-control practices or engage the families of victims of hospital-acquired infections.
The board voted unanimously to adopt the regulations.
Looks like I will be driving to San Diego where I used to live for any hospital treatment.
This ruling makes no sense in a democracy.
I agree that full disclosure should be treated with grave caution. If not then wide spread panic could be created. Hospitals could be forced to shut down out of fear because of the lack of medical knowledge of the community at large. I am not saying ignore it ...but treat it carefully!
This and other nosocomial infection rates need to be made public.
Hospitals need to clean up their act and stop killing people.
Hospitals bury their mistakes and get paid for killing people by hiding their poor practices in different disease codes.
This is where national health care works the best, because under performing hospitals are immediately identified and corrective action required.
WOW!! What country is this?
Because this does not appear to be the way a government of the people would act.
This feels a lot like Iran or Saudi Arabia.
VegasRaven, give me a friggin' break! When you say "wide spread panic could be created", it's people like yourself who will likely spread it. I guess you don't like to look at traffic accident statistics either, right? How about restaurant safety ratings? Is there a panic going on there? Have you decided not to drive because you know that driving can be dangeous? Any restaurant with a bad rating SHOULD be shut down if they do not fix their problems... same with hospitals! Wouldn't you be SAFER knowing you will be treated at a hospital where their safety record is going to be made public? WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE AFRAID OF LIVING IN A WORLD WITH TRUTH!?!?
When the evironment inside a hospital gets to a code red, every human being in that hospital has a chance to pick up any of the viruses alive in that facility. When the hospital is aware they have an epidemic of viruses that anyone can catch but don't aware anyone in the hospital they are there. Don't advise any one to wear a facemask. Where does the liability fall when it is proven that a person was killed by contacting a virus in that facility?
Do any hospitals have patients sign a release of liability form if they die from contracting a virus at that facility?
When did they bury the Hippocratic Oath?
Is this the same Board that approved Desai and protected him?
Simply unbelievable.
is steve minagil still the council for the health dept
I go to taco bell and they have a "report card" posted to let me know their rating on health issues.
Maybe I do not need to know which infections a particular hospital spread but I do want and need a posted "report card" on the rating given any medical facility.
Please use the "bell curve" in rating facilities, because they are not all "A" students!
And these Hospitals want Limits on Lawsuits. Their properties should be surrounded with Lawyer billboards.
Why the hiding of information from the USA people. This is WRONG! This is also what hapened When the filmmaker revealed how to reverse diabetes without drugs ...the USA drug makers did not promote the story
Just google SPIRIT HAPPY DIET
How can anyone deny patients this information? How could people vote against this when victims families are in that same room. It is inhumane.
Peaches may be on the right track. If a restaurant failed their inspection and was making people sick, it would be reported in a newspaper. Why not the same for people/ business we trust our lives to?
I'm not saying we need to know every detail or anything, but it would be nice to know which hospitals are below even mediocre, at best. We need trustworthy, competent and caring doctors, nurses and staff, not just someone who's there to collect a paycheck.
The first order of business of the next Legislature should be to terminate all funding for the state "Board of Health." Then they can get on to more contentious issues. Passing memos back and forth between hospital bureaucrats and state bureaucrats serves no public function. Without information on infection rates no doctor can choose where to send patients and no patient can choose where to go -- except away from Nevada. The money now spent on the "Board of Health" could be put to a better public use elsewhere.
Marshall: Why not frame some good questions, and ask Jon Ralston to invite each candidate for Governor, separately, to answer the health policy related questions in front of the cameras....such as questions about mandating disclosures of hospital acquired infection data to the state, the public and thereby potential patients?
Unfortunately, it always comes down to the same thing on almost every problem we have in this entire country, protect the right of businesses to make a profit while they abuse their employees and customers. We need to know what the rates of infection are for these hospitals. That this subject has to be debated means that there is a reason they are unwilling to do it, and you can bet it's not due to their concern for the patients in these facilities. Something that makes it even worse is if your child, mom, wife, father, or another relatives contracts one of these infections, you're limited in the amount you can recover for your relative's pain and suffering, not to mention the added stress on the family. We're darned if we do, and we're darned if we don't. I hope some of these folks in the meeting are reading the comments on this article. They should be ashamed of themselves for trying to keep this information from the public. We pay the insurance premiums, pay the part of the hospital bill the insurance doesn't cover, and if we get one of these nasty infections, we can't even get properly compensated! I saw how the woman who needs a constant supply of oxygen has to live for the rest of her life after being exposed to one of these infections. I wonder what these health officials, lobbyists, lawmakers, and hospital administrators would do about money if we all cancelled our health insurance policies on the same day? I bet we'd get their attention then.
A friend from CALIF had their cut on their arm stapled, back at Kaiser in CALIF they said: "only head wounds get stapled."
Wasn't Desai on the medical board? We need Federal Government intervention, I'm calling HHS.
No doubt this Board's top concern is about health . . . the financial health of the providers who control it, that is.
Look no further than this story to discover why the U.S. is fast becoming a failed state. Unfortunately, this is just another instance of the foxes lording over the hen house, those with an inherent conflict of interest infesting a governmental entity for the primary purpose of protecting their pocketbooks.
The real insult to this injury? That average citizens are forced to fund this form of arrogant abuse!
If we the people want to take our government back, straightening out this industry patsy 'Board of Health' would be one great place to start.
These infections... MRSA and C. diff are no joke. I had kidney surgery at the Naval Hospital in San Diego. Two days after discharge I had C. diff. I was very surprised. The care at the Naval Medical Center is very good. The staff are very careful, very professional and conscientious. They started me on 10 days of a powerful antibiotic. Thought I had it licked and a few days after the 10 day course of treatment it came back. This time was 2 weeks on a stronger antibiotic without complete recovery and then another 2 weeks again.
Along the way, I thought it was going to take me out. I've passed kidney stones, been shot, stabbed, had a broken back and this way by far the worst I've ever felt. The end was in doubt.
I'm sure I got it from the other guy in the room who had some kind of disgusting intestinal problem that stunk to high heaven every couple of hours when the doctors had to come in to do some kind of noisy procedure on him. I could have insisted on a private room but I didn't want to be a pain in the keester prima donna. I'm not young anymore and not as healthy as I used to be but I've always been tough as nails. But, the C. diff kicked my butt and made a wimp out of me. If there's a next time I'll insist on a private room.
Make sure you know about these things and don't let anyone get near you without washing their hands first. It took me a couple of months before I got any real strength back and I lost over 20 lbs.
Disclosure is a must...Self monitoring is so very wrong.Non disclosure will open a can of worms and lawsuits they don't even want to go there.You would think a hospital by virtue of being a HEALTH CARE entity would want to be open to the public.It doesn't say much for the hospital.Certainly I would stay clear of them.
seems this board is like the gaming board and the labor board which seem to do what ever business tell them to do.
All u have to do is just pay someone on the inside and they will give u all th info u need to know and if the hospital don't agree then they can prove u are wrong, and you can publish it and the people will know, and just keep your mouth shut who u are paying off. if a tree falls in the woods and nobody around does it make a sound. that is how vegas was run in the 70,s and early eighties. I know.
No hosiptal or doctor really gives a crap about your health - there's no money in prevention - just mask the symptoms and pass the insurance forms.
THIS IS THE PROBLEM OF MEDICAL COMUNITY POLICING THEM SELVES.... they don't.
The Board's actions really make me sick!Oh no, i'm sorry,no,i'm really not that sick,put down the phone,please,don't call the ambulance,by the time u visit me in the hospital,u wouldn't know if I was faking it or not! NOT!
I worked 30 years for a hospital in Southern California. Hospital infections were a top priority issue. The state I believe mandates reporting of these infections, and the public is allowed to see hospital infection rates. I am now retired in Nevada and the state is doing themselves and the public a dis service in not making these transparent. If they or there family needed to enter a hospital, wouldn't they want to know? What incentive does a hospital have to reduce and improve there infection rate other than The Joint Commission or DNV process.
Sounds like the board had already determined how they would vote before they even met.
How do they get on this board? If they're appointed, it's clear the person appointing them needs to get some mail and email from ordinary citizens.
Going to a hospital can happen to anyone -- in a heartbeat.