SHOULD HOSPITALS BE INSPECTED FOR CLEANLINESS?

SHOULD HOSPITALS BE INSPECTED FOR CLEANLINESS? Betsy McCaughey had an essay in the Wall Street Journal for November 29 arguing that since health inspectors examine restaurants without prior notice for cleanliness, hospitals should be subject to similar inspections. About 2500 people a year die from a food-borne illness encountered in a restaurant, while over 100,000 persons a year die from infections developed in hospitals. She wrote an earlier article that has some troubling information, such as: “Boston University researchers who examined 49 operating rooms found that more than half of the objects that should have been disinfected were overlooked. A study of patient rooms in 20 hospitals in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., found that more than half the surfaces that should have been cleaned for new patients were left dirty.” The article also has some useful advice for hospital patients. The article also notes that: “Hospitals once tested surfaces for bacteria, but in 1970, the CDC and the American Hospital Association advised them to stop, saying testing was unnecessary and not cost effective.” I have posted on the importance of clean hands and clean surfaces in hospitals here, here and here. I posted on rats in restaurants here.