To achieve this recognition, hospitals must meet a number of criteria set to measure how robust a hospital’s antimicrobial stewardship efforts are.
“By demonstrating success in these different areas, Antelope Valley Hospital protects our community from the harms of overuse of antibiotics and improves outcome for patients being treated for infections,” the hospital said in a news release.
The Healthcare-Associated Infections Program in the California Department of Public Health Center for Health Care Quality oversees the prevention, surveillance, and reporting of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance in California’s hospitals and other healthcare facilities, according to the CDPH website.
According to CDPH, antimicrobial stewardship programs have been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes and reduce adverse consequences, including combatting antimicrobial resistance and mitigating Clostridioides difficile infections.
“Recognized statewide, this award demonstrates our commitment to quality and safety for the patients we serve,” said Ross Bauman, Pharm.D., Executive Director of Professional Services at Antelope Valley Hospital. “This is a collaborative effort among our medical professionals to improve and optimize patient care. We thank Dr. Nilesh Hingarh [and] Dr. Hien Truong, both infectious disease physicians, and Deanna Quan, infectious disease clinical pharmacist specialist in leading our hospital’s efforts.”
[Information via news release from Antelope Valley Hospital.]
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