“9/11/12”
“Best Practices Database for the Prevention of HAI”
Today the Advocacy for the prevention of Hospital Associated
Infections(HAI) in our Veteran’s Hospitals are going to begin the process of supporting
the development of the “Best Practices Database
for the Prevention of Hospital Associated Infections” in support of
those who help others and to be made available, free of charge, to all
Hospitals in the United States. The Great State of California is where I live
and the California Department of Public Health is in the best position to make
this database happen with the results ultimately giving our veterans access to
the very best practices currently underway in our private hospitals.
The following is a
letter addressed the United Sates Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs from one year
ago which identifies the motivation behind the effort. Many positive things
have happened over the past year, the United States Department of Health and
Human Services declaring HAI a “preventable disease” being the most profound, “thank
you”!
“hia-five”
Michael H. Slavinski
_______________________________________________________________________
To: General Eric Ken Shinseki
United States
Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs
Date: 11/6/11
Re: Infection prevention in ventilators at V.A. hospitals,
page 1 of 2.
Dear General Shinseki,
At this time I will
humbly ask your office to investigate the opportunity to implement a cost and life saving innovation currently
underway in the private sector.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/23/business/la-fi-hospital-infections-20110823
Following the
teachings of W. Edwards Demming,
“quality must start from the top”, the reason for my request to your office and
my enthusiasm for the effort.
The L.A. Times did an
outstanding job of identifying all of the stake holders and the benefits to
society, identifying the entrepreneurial spirit from the “top”, Ms. Pam Kehaly,
President, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield.
The L.A. Times has
also in the recent past highlighted the great strides the Veterans hospitals
have made in inpatient care, giving me the confidence that the Veteran’s
hospitals are either ahead of the curve or open to improvement.
This program would
fit well within the parameters of President Barack Obama’s current cost cutting
efforts, one of his current "key initiatives"!
Although not involved in the medical field, A.S.Q. allowed
me to have some insight into the complexities of the workings of hospitals, in
the 90’s several nurses gave our local chapter presentations on how to
implement quality programs from the “middle down” and the less than desirable
results. Dissecting the space shuttle disaster was the work of the decade,
keeping a few people alive for a week in space was far less complicated than
running a hospital. Personally, I struggled to figure out what motivated these
nurses to go to work every day during that period for the consensus was that it
was far safer in the space shuttle than it was in our local hospitals. Recently
a nurse auditor at Anthem Blue Cross helped me resolve the issue, “ I strive to
help at least one person every day”, our veterans deserve nothing less, even in
these challenging times, in my opinion.
Semper Fi
Michael H. Slavinski
Continued on next page!
Re: Infection prevention in ventilators at V.A. hospitals,
page 2 of 2.
Cc:
The Honorable United States President Barack Obama
The Honorable
United States Senator Barbara Boxer
The Honorable United States Senator Dianne Feinstein
The Honorable Majority Whip Congressman Kevin McCarthy
The Honorable United States Secretary of the Navy Ray
Mabus
General James A. Amos
Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
Ms. Pam Kehaly
President, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield
Mr. Eddy W. Hartenstrin
Publisher and Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles Times
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tribune Company
Staff
Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield
"If we can improve the quality of care, that will
translate into lower cost," Anthem President Pam Kehaly said. "These
are real dollars."
___________________________________________________________
Ps: the movie, as my knowledge develops concerning the advocacy, in the private sector, “culture” seems to be the key to preventing HAI. Thinking of our veterans , at some point someone sits down and say’s “ I want to spend over a billion dollars on training in the next three months”, no fooling! This process has been developed over the past couple of hundred years. No, the film did not cost a billion but you can clearly identify what is of value but to learn from this movie, watch the “eyes”, it is the small things that make it all work in my opinion and I really appreciate the Marine who took the time to document the complete process.
The “drowning tank”at the beginning, “train like you fight, fight like you train”, due to gravity and high temperature alloys, most things you fight in, without warning, head the bottom of the ocean upside down and on fire, from what I hear, in wartime, things do not improve very much!
Give a Veteran a break, a job and perhaps your support, think of the families of these volunteers, ten years of continuous wars, they deserve the best in my opinion and with any luck, that will happen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxtCaGqiScI
The picture, baby weighing in Africa, courtesy U.S. Peace Corps!
