October 29, 2007 - For Immediate Release

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LOYOLA TO ADOPT MRSA SCREENING FOR ALL PATIENTS PRIOR TO HOSPITALIZATION

(MAYWOOD) October 29, 2007 - Loyola University Medical Center will begin an aggressive screening program to detect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA, for every planned admission to the hospital.

“This is, quite simply, the right thing to do. It is an important component of our overall plan to improve patient safety in all aspects of care,” said Dr. Paul Whelton, president and CEO of Loyola University Health System.

The screening program has already been implemented in Loyola’s intensive care units and screening will be extended in November to all patients entering the hospital. The testing will involve DNA analysis of a nasal swab sample at the time of admission. Results are returned within two hours.

MRSA is a strain of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics that are commonly used to treat staphylococcal infections. Most MRSA infections occur in hospitals and in other healthcare settings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC). Officials at the CDC estimate that 79,000 people get MRSA infections from healthcare facilities each year. Some of the infections can be life-threatening, especially those that occur in patients with surgical incisions or weakened immune systems.

“As an academic medical center with an overriding emphasis on patient safety, we feel that it’s our responsibility to lead the way with this initiative. New reports from the medical literature have found that MRSA is a greater threat than had previously been thought. We see this as a worthwhile investment in improving safety for our patients,” said Whelton.

Since 2005, Loyola has been piloting several initiatives to reduce MRSA. Active screening and surveillance have been used successfully in the neonatal unit and in the intensive care unit. The decision to move to universal hospital screening grew out of the significant reduction in infection seen in these two areas.

Concern about MRSA is growing nationwide, but was recently heightened by an Oct. 17 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which found that the infections have become more widespread and are not confined to healthcare settings. Several schools in the Chicago area have been closed temporarily when students were found to have the infection.

Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 25 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 561-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.