Central Illinois Jobs

Illinois surgery centers slip on infection control

This image released by the Lyon Hospital Friday Dec. 2, 2005 shows the face partial transplant operation performed in Amiens, northern France, last Sunday Nov. 27, 2005. A 38-year-old woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, had surgery last Sunday by French surgeons Jean-Michel Dubernard and Bernard Devauchelle to replace her nose, lips and chin in Amiens, northern France. The donor was a brain-dead patient whose family gave consent. (AP Photo/CHU Lyon)

†A Chicago eye-surgery center that inspectors said routinely skimped on sterilizing time for surgical instruments, cutting the recommended 10 minutes down to four minutes — and sometimes just three minutes.

†A suburban Chicago center that cleaned instruments in a sink that had no hot water.

†A central Illinois center that didn’t investigate why one of its surgeons had a high rate of post-operative infections.

Of 21 Illinois surgery centers inspected over the past year, 14 — or two-thirds — were cited for infection-control problems. All of the problems they were cited for have now been corrected, according to state health officials.

The lapses at same-day surgery centers were found throughout the state, as regulators continue a crackdown prompted by a 2008 hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas believed to be caused by unsafe clinic practices.

In Illinois, 36 surgical centers still haven’t been inspected using a tougher new approach required by federal health officials since the Las Vegas scare.

Surgery centers are a growing segment of the health-care system. They perform procedures including cataract surgeries, colonoscopies and foot operations — often at a lower cost than hospitals. Across the nation, the centers do more than 6 million procedures a year and collect $3 billion from Medicare.

“Government Focus Shifting to Creating Jobs” — Central Illinois ...

(NAFB) – Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the debt deal provides an opportunity for government leaders to take a step back and evaluate what to do. For the U.S. Department of Agriculture specifically – Vilsack says it’s an opportunity to modernize and make the department more customer friendly, find efficiencies and create ways to leverage its resources more effectively. He says it also will shift attention to job growth.

The U.S. has to have a government that spends less – Vilsack says – but that also invests in its resources wisely. He says this means developing an economy that makes, creates and innovates. When that happens – Vilsack says the U.S. will be a nation that exports – and more ag sales is a priority for him. For every one-billion dollars raised through ag exports – USDA estimates 8,400 jobs are created. Vilsack says there’s no better prescription than agriculture today – and USDA anticipates 2011 will be the best year ever in the history of ag exports.

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