Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1485806
8 INFECTION CONTROL HHS awards $21M to 13 hospitals to fight emerging special pathogens By Nika Schoonover T he U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response awarded $21 million to 13 healthcare facilities to help fight against special pathogens, like COVID-19. e response was urged by a need to increase readiness to pathogens like Ebola, COVID-19 and Monkeypox, according to an Oct. 24 news release shared with Becker's. "We are taking this critical step to award new funding to our regional healthcare partners to strengthen the capabilities of their spacial pathogen programs and make our healthcare system better prepared to respond to these infectious diseases," Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Dawn O'Connell, said in the release. e funds will integrate clinical and healthcare system's operational expertise into existing preparedness and response structures at the regional, state, jurisdiction and local levels. e selected 13 hospitals are Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers with an enhanced capability to care for highly infectious diseases and serve as regional hubs for the National Special Pathogen System. ASPR selected three new healthcare facilities to serve as RESPTCs, providing $3 million each to Washington Hospital Center in Washington, District of Columbia; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill; and Spectrum Health System in Grand Rapids, Mich.. e ten existing RESPTCs received $1.2 million each from the department: 1. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston 2. New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation/HHC Bellevue Hospital Center 3. Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland 4. Emory University Hospital and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta/ Egleston Children's Hospital in Atlanta 5. University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis 6. University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston 7. Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha 8. Denver Health and Hospital Authority 9. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles 10. Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital in Spokane, Wash. n HAIs continued to rise in 2021, CDC finds By Mackenzie Bean T he incidence of several common healthcare- associated infections reported by U.S. hospitals increased in 2021, CDC data shows. The CDC's annual HAI progress report, published Nov. 4, found rates for four of six regularly tracked infections had increased compared to 2020: • Central line-associated bloodstream infections: 7 percent increase • Ventilator-associated events: 12 percent increase • Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: 14 percent increase • Catheter-associated urinary tract infections: 5 percent increase Clostridioides difficile infections fell 3 percent in 2021, while rates of surgical-site infections held steady. This year's increases in CLABSIs, VAEs, MRSA and CAUTIS are far lower than those seen in 2020, when rates increased significantly after years of steady decline due to various pandemic-related challenges, including staffing shortages and high patient caseloads. "In 2021, many hospitals continued to face extraordinary circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic that may have reduced the implementation of standard infection prevention and control practices," CDC said. "In acute care hospitals, the increases seen in some HAIs in 2021 contrast with the success in reducing these infections prior to the pandemic. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, acute care hospitals performed significantly better than the 2015 national baseline in preventing CLABSI, CAUTI, SSIs following colon surgeries, and infections." n