Local News | Hospital MRSA screenings would be required under proposed legislation | Seattle Times Newspaper.
Washington hospitals will be required to screen vulnerable patients for a potentially deadly germ called MRSA under proposed legislation spurred by a Seattle Times investigation. Hospitals would also have to isolate infected patients in private rooms. And for the first time since 2004, hospitals would be subject to surprise inspections by the state Department of Health. These measures, if passed, would establish Washington as one of five states that have taken extraordinary steps to mandate how medical centers battle germs and protect patients. "If hospitals won't take meaningful steps to stop drug-resistant infections then we'll pass legislation to make sure they do," said Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, who is sponsoring the measures.
