VA Infection Control Practices

Floor Speech

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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