CLEVELAND, Ohio — A bureaucratic snafu helped make the Cleveland Clinic look like it’s not as interested as it should be in combating the increasingly deadly intestinal bug know as c.diff.
The Plain Dealer reported late Friday that Ohio’s largest hospital system was opting out of an 18-month study that required hospitals to share and work together to cut c.diff infection rates. In that story, the newspaper accurately cited Clinic sources who said it wasn’t participating due to costs and staffing cuts – a bizarre explanation considering 50 other hospitals in the state found the resources to participate.
By Sunday, however, The Plain Dealer reported the Clinc was considering joining the program.
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The problem was a misdirected e-mail and a little misunderstanding, said Eileen Sheil, the Clinic’s executive director of media and public relations.
E-mails about the program were sent to unfilled supervisory posts in an infection control unit at the Clinic. Media queries were routed to the infectious disease department that wasn’t aware of the program, Sheil said.
“There was confusion on our end,” Sheil said.
“The position of the Clinic is of course we want to do what’s best for the community and cut infection rates – and we’ve done a great deal to do that,” she said.
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So will the Clinic join?
Sheil said now that executives are aware of the program they’re considering it. One issue could be overlap in this program versus other initiatives the Clinic’s already participating in. Sheil said the Clinic has more than doubled its infection control staff and is already collaborating with programs in Columbus and Dayton that deal with sharing information and reporting infection rates.
