Political Quotes

“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.…”