Rhode Island Senate panel OKs hospital infections bill

A Rhode Island bill requiring hospitals to report all hospital-borne infections within 72 hours is moving swiftly through the General Assembly. The bill's sponsor, Hanna M. Gallo, said she was inundated with e-mails and phone calls from Rhode Islanders with stories about friends and loved ones who acquired devastating infections or complications as the result of hospital stays. There are those who question the bill's effectiveness, however, saying it could divert resources away from battling infections in the hospitals themselves.