NYU patient infections twice state average

People go to hospitals to rid themselves of infections, not collect more.

But a recent study conducted by Consumer Reports found NYU Langone Medical Center is among a number of hospitals that are performing poorly in maintaining lower infection ratings in intensive care units. Langone has one of the highest rates of infection in the city: 116 percent worse than the national average for infections in ICUs.

According to the study, Langone had 39 infections out of 10,119 central-line days in 2008, which is more than twice the national average. A central-line is the plastic tube that helps to bring essential antibiotics and fluids to the body; central-line days refer to the combined total days in which a patient is connected to the tubes.

Dr. Michael Phillps, an epidemiologist at Langone, maintained that the hospital responded quickly to the report. It implemented an aggressive hospital-wide education campaign for all doctors and nurses about the new IV connectors and established better practices on inserting and maintaining central-lines.

As a result, in the first quarter of 2009 the central-line-associated blood stream infection rate dropped to below the state average, said Phillips, who was pleased by the change.

"NYU Langone Medical Center is committed to the highest level of patient safety and quality and has a comprehensive quality improvement program to help reduce the potential for adverse incidents," Phillips said. "We assign the utmost priority to infection control and are committed to the highest level of patient safety."

Omar Mata, a pre-med track CAS freshman was disappointed by the initial report.

"It's really a top hospital," Mata said. "It's bad that they have so much money, but they can't keep it bacteria free."

But Philips said the results from the study are unrepresentative of the hospital.

"It is important to emphasize that they must be taken in context and that a single number or rate does not necessarily reflect patient safety at ours or any given facility," Phillips said.