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."
