An Emporia health care official was one of 13 in Kansas to recently be recognized for completion of a national fellowship program aimed at improving patient safety.
Newman Regional Health Infection Preventionist Ester Knobloch was among the leaders participating in the Kansas Healthcare Collaborative, a seven-month fellowship. Knobloch tells KVOE News she focused on two projects including hand hygiene.
Knobloch says she learned a lot during the seven-month fellowship and says she appreciated being a part of it.
Knobloch says Newman Regional Health is constantly monitoring for different types of hospital-acquired infections.
That has paid off as Knobloch says the hospital has seen a reduction in the amount of C Diff infections. Additionally, with flu season upon us, Knobloch says Newman Regional Health always takes extra steps when a patient comes into their care with an upper respiratory illness.
Nationwide, between 2010 and 2015, an estimated 125,000 fewer patients died in the hospital and approximately $22.8 billion in health care costs were saved as a result of reductions in hospital-acquired conditions, according to the Agency for Healthcare Resea
