Cardinal Health has established a $1 million charitable grant to support initiatives by healthcare providers that enhance patient safety and quality of care

2008 Cardinal Health Patient Safety Grant Recipients >

University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center

A statewide collaborative to reduce the incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia

Team members

Back row:

Ellen Interlandi, RN, New Mexico Hospital Association
Susan Kellie, MD, MPH, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Gary Simpson, MD, PhD, MPH, New Mexico Medical Society
Krisna Chongsiriwatana, MD, President, Infectious Diseases Society of New Mexico
Carlene Brown, MPH, New Mexico Medical Review Association.

Second row:

Nancy Mikkelsen, RN, President, APIC-NM
Christina Ewers, RN, New Mexico Department of Health
Cindy Johnson, MT, CIC, APIC-NM

How we help

Cardinal Health Patient Safety Grant Program

The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC) will partner with rural and urban acute care and long-term acute care facilties to implement a statewide collaborative project to reduce healthcare-associated bacteremias caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA accounts for 50-60% of all S. aureus isolates in local laboratories and causes an estimated 400 bloodstream infections and 113 deaths yearly in the state. The proposed collaborative aims gather baseline and post-intervention data on MRSA bacteremias in participating facilities, implement the "MRSA bundle" of interventions, and provide monthly data to the collaborative organizers on process and outcome measures. The collaborative will provide workshops for knowledge sharing and development of community standards of infection control, data collection tools, educational materials for the public and providers, and data analysis. The goal of the collaborative is to decrease the rate of healthcare-associated MRSA bloodstream infections per 1000 patient days by 40% in the participating facilities over 12 months.

Program inquiries

Susan M. Kellie, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases
Phone: 505.272.1670
Email: skellie@salud.unm.edu

The Regents of the University of New Mexico
Health Sciences Center
MSC09 5220
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-001