Dole VA Center has cut staph infections in half | Wichita News - Kansas News | Kansas.com.
Wichita's veterans hospital has cut incidents of contagious staph infection in half by following strict guidelines, it says. The Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center and other veterans hospitals nationally take the rare step of screening all inpatients with nose swabs, then isolating those who test positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly called MRSA. The measures -- introduced in March 2007 and expanded to include the nursing home in August -- have dramatically reduced the number of patients who contract the infection in the hospital, Dole VA officials said. "Most people have heard of MRSA, and I think they appreciate we're taking care of it," said Debbie Thomas, director of quality management at the hospital. Other large hospitals in Wichita say they also have seen a decrease in in-hospital staph infections. They test only patients considered at high risk for the infection.
