The New York State Department of Health’s (DOH) just-released New York State Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) 2018 Report includes a new section on facilities known to have cared for an infected, colonized, or possibly colonized patient or resident with Candida auris (C. auris). The list includes hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and hospices.
The report emphasizes that inclusion on the list does not imply that the patient or resident acquired C. auris at the facility, and that individuals colonized or infected with C. auris tend to have multiple co-morbidities.
Through our regional Infection Prevention Forum (IP Forum), GNYHA has helped hospitals and health systems communicate with DOH about the potential impact of such information on public health, and about understanding DOH’s related surveillance plans. GNYHA has also used the IP Forum to inform DOH of hospitals’ concerns and proposed solutions related to laboratory capacity to respond to proposed testing requirements, best practices for identifying and isolating patients, and coordination of information transfer when potentially colonized C. auris patients are transferred to and from nursing homes to acute care settings.
Other HAIs
The annual DOH report also includes information on publicly reported, hospital-specific infection rates related to four hospital-acquired infections (HAIs)—central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), surgical site infections (SSI), Clostridium difficile infections (CDI), and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections—as well as statewide data on other HAIs, multi-drug resistant organisms, and hospital infection prevention practices. New York State observed overall reductions across HAIs in the 2018 rates compared to 2015 data reported as follows:
- Colon SSIs rate: 27 percent reduction
- Hysterectomy SSI rate: 10 percent reduction
- CABG chest SSI rate: 23 percent reduction
- CLABSI rate: 24 percent reduction
- CAUTI rate: 25 percent reduction
- CDI: 35 percent reduction
- CRE infection rate: 34 percent reduction
Hospitals can find spreadsheets for the data highlighted in the report on the Health Data NY website. The report also includes statewide aggregated data for other infections and multidrug-resistant organisms, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
GNYHA Infection Prevention Activities
GNYHA continues to participate in the New York State Technical Advisory Workgroup, which sets the State’s HAI reporting priorities. GNYHA and DOH have also developed an instructional video for environmental services staff and frontline support staff involved in daily and terminal cleaning of patient rooms to prevent spread of C. auris. The video is available in English and Spanish on the GNYHA website.
GNYHA encourages hospitals to review their data and anticipate inquiries from the media and public. Please feel free to direct media inquiries to GNYHA’s Brian Conway. If you have questions about the HAI report, C. auris, or any of GNYHA’s infection prevention activities, please contact Zeynep Sumer King.