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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT:
Roseann R. Cadau |
State Rep. Tony DeLuca |
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DeLuca bill to reduce health-care associated infections
approved by House Insurance Committee
HARRISBURG, June 18 – The House Insurance Committee today approved a bill sponsored by committee Chairman Tony DeLuca, D-Allegheny, which would develop a state and regional facility-based system to monitor and prevent health-care associated infections at medical facilities in Pennsylvania.
DeLuca’s measure (H.B. 1552) is part of the governor’s “Prescription for Pennsylvania” plan that is designed to provide quality, affordable health-care coverage for everyone in the state.
“We are on the right track here,” DeLuca said. “My bill would create an infection control advisory committee that would work together with other state agencies to monitor specific cases of hospitalized patients’ infectious diseases. The more we keep an eye on the number of infectious incidents at hospitals, the better we should be able to reduce the number of health-care acquired infections.”
DeLuca’s proposal would place Pennsylvania in the forefront nationally in the fight to reduce health-care associated infections at medical facilities.
“We would place benchmarks on health-care providers to determine the progress that medical facilities are making to cut down on health-care-acquired infections in medical facilities,” DeLuca said. “This would help more people to avoid getting sicker instead of better while hospitalized.”
The legislation was sent to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
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