Dec. 03--BELLINGHAM -- New data that tracks infections for surgeries performed by hospitals in Washington show that PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center had the highest infection rates in the state for certain kinds of cardiac surgeries. Infection rates for three other surgeries were below state averages.
The data, released this week by the Washington State Hospital Association, covered the first six months of this year. The data was collected and made public as required by state law. The survey only ranks hospitals that do more than 20 of these types of surgeries.
Infection rates for orthopedic surgeries and hysterectomies also were covered in the data. The association said it was the first time that the hospital-specific surgical infection rates were being made public.
The data, found on the association's website, showed that PeaceHealth St. Joseph had an infection rate of 3.77 per 100 cardiac procedures through the reporting period that ended in June.
The state average for cardiac surgery infections was .55 per 100 procedures. The data tracked surgeries that involved repairing or replacing valves, repairing abnormal or damaged structures in the heart, and implanting medical devices that regulate heart rhythms or support heart function and blood flow.
Steve Omta, chief operating officer for PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, said the infection rates involved two cases out of 53 cardiac valve procedures.
"One is too many. We take them very seriously," Omta said.
Before the data's release, the medical center in Bellingham pulled together a Surgical Site Infection Prevention Task Force to study the two cases. Members spent months delving into the hospital's practices and comparing them to what are considered best practices on the national level, according to Omta.
That effort was on top of the medical center's permanent Infection Prevention team.
Omta said the task force didn't find a specific cause for the infections.
"Germs are everywhere and, with these cases, there's seldom a clear absolute smoking gun of 'this is what caused it,'" he said. "In this case, both of these patients did recover."
Omta said there have been no such infections since.
The data on infection rates for cardiac surgeries also indicated whether the infections were "deep" or "bone cardiac," which could be serious and need careful antibiotic management, according to the Washington State Hospital Association.
PeaceHealth St. Joseph's two cases fell in this category of infections, as opposed to the less serious "superficial cardiac infections."
Omta said the infections were disappointing, given the medical center's ratings for taking steps to reduce infection after surgery.
The Washington State Hospital Association also tracks that information, and data showed that the medical center often scored better than state and national averages on those practices.
PeaceHealth St. Joseph fared better when it came to infection rates for another type of surgery called coronary artery bypass grafting.
The Washington average for this surgery was 1.07 infections per 100 procedures. PeaceHealth St. Joseph had no infections in the reporting period.
In addition to cardiac surgeries, the data released this week by the Washington State Hospital Association also tracked infection rates for orthopedic surgeries (hip and knee replacement) and hysterectomies (abdominal and vaginal).
For those surgeries, the medical center either had infection rates below the state average, or no infections during the first six months of this year.
Omta said he supported the effort to provide data on hospital infection rates to the public.
"We certainly support the transparency and have been an advocate for transparency all along," he said.
The surgeries included in the new infection rate data are:
--heart bypass surgery;
--cardiac surgeries on the valves or septum of the heart;
--heart transplant surgery;
--knee replacement;
--hip replacement;
--abdominal hysterectomy;
--vaginal hysterectomy.
Through the website, users can sort hospitals by county, alphabetically and from highest to lowest or lowest to highest infection rates.
The website is at wahospitalquality.org. Use the drop-down menu to find infection rates for cardiac and orthopedic surgeries as well as hysterectomies.
Reach KIE RELYEA at kie.relyea@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2234.
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