Monday, October 20, 2014

Infection Prevention, an open letter to the President of the United States


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honorable United States President Barack Obama                                           October 18, 2014                                                                              

The White House                           

Washington, D.C. 20500

 

Re: Infection prevention, Leadership and return on investment.

 

Honorable President Barack Obama,

 

Please allow me to thank you for your interest in patient safety for all of us in the United States, I really appreciate it. Injecting leadership into the current Ebola crisis is commendable but the situation has, in my humble opinion, exposed the void of leadership in the U.S. Healthcare Industry concerning Healthcare Associated Infection(HAI) exacerbated by lack of investment in Infection Prevention(IP) nationwide.

  Average Healthcare CEO tenure in the US healthcare industry is not far over three years, the impulse for these same CEOs to invest in capital improvements and staff reductions for short-term profit is understandable but needlessly dangerous to staff and patients.

 The mentioned business cycle of choice has had catastrophic consequences nation-wide, quality initiatives are barely mentioned in most board rooms, organized labor is viewed with distain and are usually “firewalled” from any recognizable participation in the decision making process and our national health institutions seem to lack the will or the leadership to influence change as demonstrated in the Ebola event, very bad decisions with very severe consequences. 

 Two healthcare staff contracted Ebola, thousands will lose life or limb here in the State of California this year due to HAI, a preventable set of diseases.

 Involving the Department of Labor to monitor workplace safety concerning HAI was a good start but I would recommend changing the tax codes to stimulate healthcare training and staffing, the correlation between understaffing and HAI and the development of “best practices for the prevention of HAI”, a systemic outcast, both alarming realities.

 Inaction would encourage CEOs to continue to cut staffing levels to dangerous levels and expose our citizens to increasingly vigorous HAIs,  a concept lost on those who wish us harm, a common weapon of choice in the dark ages, our vulnerability is frightening.      

 “Women are not good at multi-tasking” a comment from a PHD level clinician here at our community hospital, the fact that the clinician is a woman gives me hope that things are changing but much too slowly and these incremental gains conflict with the notion that organized labor is the “root cause” of HAI, they actually are the solution as demonstrated by National Nurses United standing up to the accusations of wrong-doing in the Ebola crises, the only healthcare leaders to do so, and I commend them for doing so.     

 

Respectfully,

 

Michael H. Slavinski

 

 

 

Page 2                 Infection prevention, Leadership and return on investment.

 

Cc:                                                                                                             

      

 The Honorable United States Senator Barbara Boxer

 

The Honorable United States Senator Dianne Feinstein

 

The Honorable Untied States Congressman Darrell Issa

 

The Honorable Governor Edmond G. Brown

The Great State of California

 

 

Mr. Charles Idelson,

Communications Director,

National Nurses United(California Nurses Association)

 

Mr. Sean Wherley

SEIU-UHW United Healthcare Workers West

 

Ms. Katie Phelan

National Organizer,

National Nurses United(California Nurses Association)

 

Ms. Teri Lynn Kiss

President, American Association of Critical Care Nurses

 

Dr. Mark Chassin

President, Joint Commission

 

Ms. Pam Kehaly

President, Anthem Blue Cross, Western Region

 

Mr. Austin Beutner

Publisher and Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

 

"If we can improve the quality of care, that will translate into lower cost," Anthem President Pam Kehaly said. "These are real dollars."

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