North Bay General Hospital
News Release
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Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care announced the month of September's C. difficile rates from hospitals across the province. The North Bay General Hospital is reporting one case at the Scollard Site with a C. difficile rate of 0.278.
"We want to take this opportunity to explain what this actually means so people can better understand why this is happening and how best to interpret the data," stated Mark Hurst, president and CEO at the North Bay General Hospital.
Today's reporting is the second time all Ontario hospitals were required to report C. difficile infection rates to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care where it is publicly reported on the Ministry's website; the first report was in late September.
"Posting of C. difficile rates is the first of eight patient safety indicators that will be publicly reported over the next several months," said Hurst. "The North Bay General Hospital is in full support of this provincial initiative-with standardized reporting, we believe hospitals will strive to continually improve practices that will ultimately benefit our patients."
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is not a new bacteria. It is a serious concern that poses many challenges in hospitals across Ontario and has been a known cause of 'health care acquired associated diarrhea' for over 30 years. Transmission occurs when bacteria from feces contaminate surfaces (such as toilets and bedpans) and those items are touched. Hands that are not washed can then spread the bacteria to other surfaces making it easier to get this infection.
"Here at the North Bay General Hospital tremendous effort goes into preventing and managing C. difficile," said Infection Prevention and Control Coordinator, Kim Carter. "Best practices recommended by the Provincial Infectious Disease Advisory Committee are followed that include enhanced environmental cleaning in rooms where patients have C. difficile, education for staff and physicians, daily surveillance for C. difficile infection and standard treatment protocols," she added. "At the North Bay General Hospital we have been monitoring and tracking C. difficile rates for over three years and we are pleased to say that due to the vigilant practices of our staff, we have never had an outbreak of this infection."
NBGH's September public report on C. difficile infection showed its total number of cases in August was two-one at the McLaren site and one at the Scollard site. Determining the rate of C. difficile infection is complex and is calculated as a rate per 1000 patient days-taking the total number of new hospital acquired (HA) cases each month and dividing by the total number of patient days each month multiplied by one thousand. (The total patient days represents a sum of the number of days during which services were provided to all inpatients.)
"Because the number of beds is lower at the McLaren site, having one case in August made the rate at that site higher than the provincial average at 0.62 (provincial average rate in August was 0.39). The Scollard site also had one case in August, but since it has a higher volume of patients, and therefore higher patient days, the rate calculation was lower than the provincial average at 0.28.
This means that when the numbers of beds are low in a facility the calculated rates can easily become inflated.
The 2007 rate of hospital acquired C. difficile infection for Ontario Hospitals participating in the Canadian Surveillance program was 0.82 per 1000 patient care days. NBGH's rates have consistently been below these benchmarks.
"We appreciate and acknowledge the seriousness of not only C. difficile infection but all health care acquired infections," noted Hurst. "And, for that reason, we continue to do everything possible to keep our patients safe and prevent such infections from occurring. "
For further information please call the Public Relations Department at 705-495-8127 or visit the website at www.nbgh.on.ca
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