Empty beds in a hospital corridor. A recent report from the Alabama Department of Public Health showed that the state's hospitals performed better than the national baseline in three of four recorded heath care-associated infections in 2024. (Jack Yen Joy Photography/Getty Images)
Alabama hospitals performed better than expected in health care-associated infections (HAIs) in 2024, according to a report released Thursday.
The Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) in Alabama annual report, prepared by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) using data reported by state acute care and critical access care facilities, found that the standardized infection ratio (SIR) improved among three of the four infections measured in the report.
Melanie Roderick, epidemiologist supervisor at ADPH, said in a phone interview Friday that the report helps patients make an informed decision when they need to get a procedure done.
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“If somebody knows that they are going to have a colon surgery coming up, they can pull up the report and look at the hospitals in their area and ensure that the hospital that they are going to to have the surgery,” Roderick said. “Look at their ranking, as opposed to performing better or similar or worse to the national baseline.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in 31 hospital patients have an HAI. Roderick said that Alabama has improved since 2015, when about 10% of HAI patients died during their hospitalization, but training staff on HAIs is key.
“I think that in itself, is a challenge that all health care facilities experience is just making sure that they’re staffed appropriately, that their staff are trained and educated and following the practices and protocols that they’re implementing,” Roderick said.
Hospitals recorded cases of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and surgical site infections associated with colon surgeries and abdominal hysterectomies.
According to the report, Alabama had fewer catheter-associated infections than predicted based on the 2015 national baseline data, which is a 0.50 SIR, for the 14th year in a row. For central line-associated infections, the SIR decreased from 0.84 in 2023 to 0.70 in 2024.
Alabama hospitals also improved in colon surgical site infections from a 0.73 SIR in 2023 to a 0.75 SIR in 2024, and performed better than the national baseline for the 14th year. Performance was similar to the national baseline for abdominal hysterectomy surgical site infections, according to the report, with an SIR decrease from 0.97 in 2023 to 0.84 in 2024.
Not all hospitals were included in the report, Roderick said. Only acute care and critical access care facilities with 12 months of data were included in the report, she said.
“Some of our critical access hospitals are in rural locations, but they are still operating above, they can provide care, above what a rural emergency hospital would provide,” Roderick said.
Eleven facilities were excluded from the report either due to no data, facility closure, facility type change or temporary exemption from the federal government, Roderick said.
Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said at the State Committee of Public Health meeting Thursday morning that he is pleased with Alabama hospitals’ performance.
“There were two or three facilities that didn’t quite improve like we would like, but on the whole, Alabama hospitals do a really good job with this, and it’s reflected in this information that we have,” Harris said.
Only three hospitals performed worse than the national baseline. DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa had five abdominal hysterectomy surgical site infections out of 266 procedures in 2024. Thomas Hospital in Fairhope had six colon surgical site infections out of 130 procedures in 2024.
Messages seeking comment from DCH Regional Medical Center and Thomas Hospital were left Friday afternoon.
Jackson Hospital and Clinic had nine central line-associated bloodstream infections out of 3,579 procedures in 2024. After a review of the data, the hospital told ADPH in a statement that it noticed deficiencies in its maintenance kits.
“We addressed the gaps with changes in our care protocol and instituted educational training for staff including both e-learning modules and hands on bedside training,” the statement said. “We have since brought in a new maintenance kit and are currently having better results.”
Roderick said they give each hospital that performed worse than the national baseline an opportunity to provide a statement because the report is published for the public’s benefit. Harris said on Thursday that the 2025 report is being made, and that post-pandemic reports were delayed.
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Anna Barrett