The Tennessee Hospital Association (THA) recently honored a number of Baptist Memorial hospitals for their achievements in infection prevention in 2023 with its inaugural Zero Harm Awards. Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Tipton were two of only eight hospitals in the state to be recognized for zero harm events in all four eligible categories.
This award program, developed in collaboration with the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety and the THA Quality Committee, celebrates hospitals and clinical departments that have reached zero health care-associated infections in categories that include central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) over the past calendar year.
THA honored Baptist Carroll County and Baptist Tipton for having no CAUTI, CLABSI, CDI or MRSA infections hospital-wide in 2023. THA also recognized Baptist Memorial Hospital-Collierville, Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union City for not having infections in specific departments in 2023.
“The achievements of these hospitals are a testament to exceptional quality and safety practices in their facilities,” said Tammy Van Dyk, THA senior vice president of patient safety. “We are proud to announce that 94 member hospitals received the Zero Harm Awards this year, and eight hospitals achieved the remarkable feat of zero harm events across all four eligible categories.”
Eligible participants include acute care and pediatric hospitals that report data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network and have voluntarily granted data rights to THA. To ensure accuracy, the Tennessee Department of Health partnered with THA to validate the data. Award criteria require hospitals to have a minimum of 50 line days or patient days hospital-wide or at the unit level for CAUTI and CLABSI.
