CoPIRG's Rex Wilmouth

Coming Clean in Colorado’s Hospitals

Like you, when I decide on a hospital I want to make sure the doctors are experienced, the staff are caring and professional, and that I will be taken care of. I wouldn’t wonder if the hospital is doing enough to prevent patients from getting sicker while under its care.

Until I heard about Tony Zalatan.

Prior to being admitted to Porter Adventist Hospital for an angiogram in Nov. of 2002, Tony was at the top of his game. He was an engineer at Lockheed Martin, rode his bicycle over 300 miles each week and had recently married.

Doctors discovered a heart defect and decided to do surgery. During the surgery, Tony contracted a staph infection, which led to a stroke. Since the discovery of the infection, Tony has lost the use of both feet, the tips of his fingers and is resigned to spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

His wife of two years is now his primary care-giver, and Tony is working on rebuilding his life with new limitations.

An estimated two million patients each year contract infections from hospitals, and 100,000 people ultimately die of these infections, according to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2002.

These infections have high costs—aside from the human cost in pain and suffering, infections make health care more expensive.

According to a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association, infections can lengthen a patient’s stay by nearly 10 days and cost and additional $36,000. The CDC estimates an extra $5 billion in health care costs per year.

It’s time for a change. CoPIRG is supporting HB-1045, which will require hospitals throughout Colorado to report to the state health department their rate of infection for the three most common hospital-acquired infections.

As part of our efforts to reform health care, here at CoPIRG we will be looking to make hospitals safer for patients, and help Coloradans choose the best possible care.