Infection Prevention and Control
- Mid-June 2008
- Français
During the week of June 23 there have been a number of news reports about C-difficile and its presence at Niagara Health System (NHS) hospital sites.
Like all healthcare institutions in Ontario, we have been dealing with MRSA, VRE and C-difficile on a daily basis for the last several years at all of our hospital sites, and more frequently since 2006.
Infection prevention and control is a priority for the NHS and our staff and physicians routinely follow the best standards and approaches to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases. As of June 23, 2008 there is no outbreak of C-difficile nor have we had an outbreak of C-difficile at any of the six acute care hospital sites or the prompt care centre that forms the NHS.
Infection prevention and control is a priority for the NHS
Infection prevention and control measures are standardized across all of our sites and are consistent with national standards.
Infection prevention and control is a common challenge for hospitals across Canada, and certainly North America, as the organisms do not respond to antibiotics and can easily spread in the community and in hospital if appropriate steps are not taken.
Our infection prevention and control measures are standardized across all of our sites. These infection prevention measures include:
- regular hand washing
- the wearing of gloves and isolation gowns when caring for infected patients
- isolating patients who are infected to minimize the possibility of the infection spreading
- enhanced cleaning of patients rooms
We appreciate the efforts made by our nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, support staff and volunteers as well as our patients and visitors to practice good hygiene practices while in hospital.
To find out more about Infection Control practices at the NHS, click HERE.