HAI Facts

FACT: In the United States, every minute of every day an average of 4 people become contaminated with a hospital acquired infection. Not only that, more people in our country die from bacterial infections they caught in the hospital than from AIDS, Breast Cancer and automobile accidents combined. It’s a disgrace that more than 90,000 people annually never survive the infections they accidentally catch while being cared for as patients in American hospitals, originally admitted for totally unrelated health care procedures.

FACT: The Center for Disease Control says that over 2,000,000 people in the U.S. are catching hospital-acquired infections every year. That’s 5,400 daily. Of those, approximately 250 people per day fail to survive - the number is unthinkable.
If the reality of this figure is ever properly communicated to the American public as a daily lump sum death toll, the associated outrage for answers and a solution to end these avoidable deaths immediately would be powerfully overwhelming. Why not here, now?

FACT: There is an urgent need for people to be re-educated about the hospital experience. When we enter a hospital, we are engaging a completely different environment than the one existing outside of those glass doors. Within these walls there are new strains of bacterial enemies and new rules we must learn to follow in order to help to produce a healthy, acceptable outcome for the patient we are there to visit. The need for an entire culture change is quickly becoming evident throughout all health care.

FACT: The Center for Disease Control says that if health care providers and visitors will simply sanitize their hands prior to touching the patient or objects in the room, they can effectively reduce bacterial infections by as much as 30-40%. Is vigilant hand washing really all that hard to do?

FACT: It has been estimated that the average cost of a hospital stay for patients who acquired infections was approximately $50,000 more than for those who did not acquire infections; even if we pare that figure to say, $10,000 per incident, that equates to at least $20 Billion Annually. Health insurance companies partnering with SAFE CARE CAMPAIGN can not only help save precious lives but can also cut the costs of unnecessarily increased length-of-care payouts.

FACT: According to the Mayo Clinic, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are an excellent alternative to hand washing, particularly when soap and water aren't available. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are actually proven to be more effective than soap and water in killing bacteria and viruses that cause disease. Commercially prepared hand sanitizers contain ingredients that help prevent skin dryness. Using these products can result in less skin dryness and irritation than hand washing.