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Protecting patient safety
Nevada lawmakers eight years ago approved legislation that required hospitals to report “sentinel” events to the Nevada State Health Division, for the purpose of identifying unexpected occurrences so that the medical facilities could prevent their recurrence.
State to investigate hospital infection findings
The Sun’s investigation into lethal bacteria in Las Vegas hospitals has identified more apparent underreporting by hospitals of the number of times patients are infected at the facilities.
Billing codes key to data analyzed on infections
The Las Vegas Sun’s reporting on lethal bacteria in hospitals is based on analysis of Nevada hospital data collected by the state from 1999 to 2009.
A spreading danger
Today’s stories by Sun reporters Marshall Allen and Alex Richards about patients who have become infected by lethal, drug-resistant bacteria during stays in Las Vegas Valley hospitals should serve as a wake-up call to those medical facilities that more needs to be done to improve patient safety.
Rise in infection rates, hospitals’ reticence are troublesome
I have washed my hands more in hospitals during the past couple of years than I had ever done before.
VA system stanching MRSA
The Veterans Affairs Department is determined to eliminate the spread of MRSA within its facilities, and has virtually eliminated the infections within some of its hospitals.
A hidden epidemic
Las Vegas hospital officials say they are doing enough to protect patients from becoming infected with deadly bacteria. But hospitals are failing.
Hospital stay will stay with her always
Julie Rich lives tethered to an oxygen machine, the low hum and hiss constant companions, the vinyl tubing always underfoot. It is a reminder of the aggressive bacterial infection she contracted after an outpatient procedure at a local hospital.
Hospital’s sanitation promises quickly forgotten
In July 2008, MountainView Hospital executives learned their infection control practices were so bad the federal government was ready to send its Medicare patients - the bulk of the hospital’s business - elsewhere.
Iowa regulators also pushing for reporting of patient harm
Nevada lawmakers aren’t alone in their efforts to increase hospitals’ transparency in reporting harm done to patients.
Draft bills would require preventable injury reports by individual hospitals
Lawmakers approved Tuesday drafting bills to require Nevada hospitals to report, by facility, the preventable infections and injuries patients suffer while in their care.
State presses hospitals for full accounting of preventable injuries
State officials released data on preventable injuries and infections in Nevada hospitals Thursday that mirror the findings of a Las Vegas Sun investigation.
St. Rose Dominican Hospitals to post data on quality
In response to a Las Vegas Sun investigation of hospital care, St. Rose Dominican Hospitals officials pledged to make public their internal quality measures — and challenged other local hospitals to do the same. The Sun investigation, based on hospital billing data on file with the state, identified 969 instances in 2008 and 2009 in which patients suffered preventable injuries, infections or other harm in Las Vegas hospitals.
Health care leaders discuss Sun report's findings
Last Sunday the Las Vegas Sun reported that its analysis of area hospital records identified 969 cases of preventable infections, bone breaks, bed sores and other harm that were not present when the patient was admitted.
Health care can hurt you
Among life’s core assumptions is that hospitals bring healing. But sometimes they bring harm. Rosie Powell’s surgeon removed a mass from the 74-year-old’s abdomen, thinking it was a cancerous tumor. It was a healthy kidney. Donna Wendt’s windpipe was torn during insertion of a breathing tube. Oxygen was pumped into her chest cavity instead of her lungs, bloating her. She couldn’t be saved.
Where I Stand
Fascination and frustration in reporting on Las Vegas hospital care
The assignment Sun reporter Marshall Allen was given two years ago was just one sentence, but would prove to be the most ambitious of his career: Find out what’s right, and wrong, about our local health care delivery system.
Interactive Features
Harmful events glossary
The data showed eight categories of harm including bedsores, infections, bone breaks and foreign objects accidentally retained after surgery.
See the results
Explore the data with interactive graphics and data tables.
Preventable injuries interactive »
Documents
See the source material behind the stories: legal filings, academic research, minutes from legislative hearings and internal e-mails.
Your stories
Have you or someone you know been harmed in a Las Vegas hospital? Make your voice heard.
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