Medina hospital says infections have been greatly reduced

MEDINA – Medina Memorial Hospital officials say they have reduced MRSA and C. Diff infections by 71.4 percent this year compared to data in 2013-14, when Consumer Reports says Medina Memorial had the highest rate of infections for Western New York hospitals.

Officials at Orleans Community Health, the parent organization of Medina Memorial, say they believe in the transparency of reporting of quality measures.

“However, we are concerned with the Consumer Reports methodology, which according to their technical specifications states that ‘although extremely serious, these infections are relatively infrequent, which makes the infection rates volatile, as the occurrence of one or two infections can have a large impact on reported rates …'” according to a statement from the hospital today.

Medina Memorial staff have made changes to cleaning processes, skin preparation prior to certain procedures and education for staff ordering and obtaining blood cultures to accurately reflect a community acquired or a hospital acquired infection, hospital officials said in a statement.

“We will continue to implement best practice measures in our hospital to continue to provide quality care close to home,” Medina Memorial officials said.