St. John’s Mercy Hospital (SJMH) was one of 20 Missouri hospitals selected for a two-year project to improve the quality of life and care for patients. The project joins SJMH with Primaris, a nonprofit organization that serves as Missouri’s federally designated Medicare Quality Improvement Organization. Emphasis will be placed on eliminating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection—or what is commonly called a staph infection.   
Primaris is providing no-cost, on-site visits, educational and technical assistance to SJMH and other participating Missouri hospitals. The project is organized in cooperation with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal Medicare agency.
“The project goal is to increase patient safety and to enhance the safety measures already in place,” said SJMH Infection Control and Prevention Specialist Stacy Blankenship, RN, MSN. “Our mission has always been about providing the best care possible to our patients. This program can help us bring the quality of our care to a whole new level.”
MRSA is transmitted via contact. It is a sometimes life-threatening strain of staph because it is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at most risk for contracting MRSA in healthcare facilities.
A health facility’s screening process allows for early identification of and treatment for high-risk patients and prevents MSRA from being transmitted to others. SJMH is proactive in the fight against MRSA infections. When patients are admitted into the hospital, they are screened for a potential risk of having or acquiring an MRSA infection.
St. John’s also screens patients who will be coming into the hospital for joint and other surgeries because research shows that patients carrying MRSA are two to nine times more likely to develop a MRSA infection after an operation.
“By joining this project, SJMH shows its commitment to providing quality health care. While the program targets a specific clinical area, the advanced quality improvement skills participants learn in this program can be applied to other areas,” said Dorothy Andrae, director of clinical review services and hospital patient safety for Primaris.