Team Showcase: Team Pictures

2004 Showcase Winner

Region Six Ventilated Associated Pneumonia (VAP) Net Team Coral Springs Medical Center Coral Springs, FL [Press Release]

Hospital-acquired pneumonia is a risk faced by any patient being admitted to a hospital. When patients are placed on ventilators to help them breathe, the risk increases. Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) occurs in 10-65% of patients, and is fatal in 20-50% of these cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The Infection Control Committee at Coral Springs Medical Center, in collaboration with the Critical Care Committee, conducted an intense analysis of the incidence of VAP in the Critical Care Unit. The Team's goal was to reduce the incidence of VAP to below the established benchmarks. Different solutions were trialed and systematically analyzed, and once the solution of choice was identified, practices were standardized. Within three months, we surpassed our goals: VAPNET achieved 0% VAP incidence rates for eight (8) consecutive months, patient and family satisfaction rates in the Critical Care Unit soared to 100%, and the length of stay was reduced - saving Coral Springs Medical Center $880,000 for this last Fiscal Year.

The protocol has now been embraced by all of the District hospitals, and is now published nationwide in the January 2004 issue of the ICP Report. District-wide, the estimated savings for this fiscal year are over $4 million. But most importantly, VAPNET sustained a mortality rate of 0%, well below the rates published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). That is, after all is said and done, what Coral Springs Medical Center is in business to do - save lives. Instead of focusing on how to treat VAP once it occurs, Coral Springs Medical Center found a way to prevent it.

Counties in Region 6: Broward, Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach