[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10845]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     VA INFECTION CONTROL PRACTICES

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I would like to take a moment today to 
recognize the success of recent efforts at the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, VA, to reduce Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 
MRSA, infections by more than 60 percent in intensive care units. This 
initiative by VA was highlighted in a New England Journal of Medicine 
article this year.
  MRSA is a nationwide problem. It is estimated that it kills 20,000 
U.S. residents a year and hospitals remain an important source of this 
infection. Three years ago, VA launched this initiative to ensure that 
it leads the way on eradicating MRSA infections from their facilities. 
The success of this initiative has created a culture that promotes 
infection prevention by adding patient screening programs for MRSA, 
precautions for hospitalized patients found to have MRSA, and hand 
hygiene reminders with readily available hand sanitizer stations 
throughout VA medical centers.
  Every day thousands of veterans visit VA health facilities to receive 
care. VA provides care for more than 6 million veterans each year. In 
the first 3 years of this initiative, more than 1.7 million screening 
tests for MRSA were given to veteran patients at VA medical facilities 
throughout the United States. Screening tests such as these help our 
veterans stay safe from deadly antibiotic-resistant infections, a 
threat no American should face when they visit a hospital.
  Since the initiative's start in 2007, VA has increased the amount of 
MRSA screenings to 96 percent of all admitted patients. This newly 
instituted culture that promotes infection prevention has been so 
successful that infection rates for MRSA have decreased by 62 percent 
over the past 3 years within VA intensive care units and by 45 percent 
in other areas of the hospital. The success of VA's work on MRSA 
prevention is proof that with dedication and strong leadership, VA can 
make significant improvements in their ability to control infections 
and deliver high quality health care. It is my hope that these results 
will be replicated across the healthcare system nationwide and that 
success achieved by VA in improving the safe delivery of care through 
the reduction in MRSA infections will be mirrored in their efforts in 
other areas, like the sterilization and reprocessing of reusable 
medical equipment.
  As the chairman of Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the 
daughter of a disabled World War II veteran, I know firsthand the need 
for quality health care for our veterans. No one who has made 
sacrifices to serve our Nation should ever struggle to find quality, 
timely health care, which is why I am so pleased today to highlight 
this successful initiative and commend VA on their efforts to eradicate 
MRSA from their health care facilities and continue to provide care for 
our Nation's heroes.

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