U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins today announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded $966,787 to the Maine State Health Department to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The funding is being distributed to Maine pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Senators Snowe and Collins worked with a bipartisan group of senators to craft the legislation that became law earlier this year.
"Today, healthcare-associated infections have an immense impact on public health, ranking among the top ten leading causes of death in the United States," said Senators Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. "This funding is a strong step forward in helping to prevent HAIs and ensure Mainers have access to safe, quality care when being treated at a hospital or health care facility."
Healthcare-associated infections are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment for other conditions within a health care setting. The funding will be distributed through cooperative agreements to states to maximize prevention efforts including:
• Creating or expanding state and local efforts to implement recommendations in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HAI Action Plan;
• Increasing health care facilities' and health departments' use of CDC's National Health Safety Network, a surveillance system that allows HAI data to be tracked, analyzed, and compared for prevention efforts;
• Hiring and training public health staff to promote and lead HAI prevention initiatives.