Hospital receives CDC funding
PRESQUE ISLE — An $8,000 grant from the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has enhanced infection prevention measures at Aroostook County’s largest provider of health care services.
The Aroostook Medical Center has numerous measures and procedures in place to prevent the spread of infection, as well as equipment that can detect infection. The recent grant monies were used in several different areas to support TAMC’s infection prevention standards.
A new bladder scanner purchased with the funds will strengthen TAMC’s efforts to help determine if catheter use is necessary. The new scanner has been added to another bladder scanner owned by TAMC. It will help support needs in other units.
TAMC also purchased a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tester for the lab. This equipment will identify and diagnose infectious diseases in a timely and more accurate manner without having to send specimens to another lab in another part of the state.
“We also purchased two handheld SureTrend ATP monitors, and we are very excited about obtaining these,” said Jennifer Tweedie, TAMC infection prevention nurse coordinator. “With these monitors, we can test any surface anywhere for any living organisms, including bacteria and viruses. This will help us enhance patient safety by decreasing the risk to our patients and their family members acquiring harmful micro-organisms.”
The handheld monitors will be utilized by both infection prevention and environmental services to routinely check patient areas for microorganisms, as well as to determine the effectiveness of the products and techniques that are currently utilized. Software that accompanies the monitors will enable reports to be generated so that the cleanliness of each clinical area can be followed over a period of time. These monitors will be used at all TAMC sites.
“We used the grant money in several different ways to cover a wider range of infection prevention efforts including monitoring, reporting and resolutions,” said Lori McKenzie, manager of quality and infection prevention services. “We made the decision to not put all our eggs in one basket but to cover several areas to assist us in monitoring and identifying possible problem areas.”
For questions about quality or infection prevention at TAMC, please call 768-4304 or go to tamc.org.
