Cleveland Clinic, St. Vincent, MetroHealth among 6 area hospitals penalized for infection rates

A new federal crackdown that takes money away from hospitals with high infection rates is prompting reforms in its first year in some Cleveland locations, such as Cleveland Clinic Hospital and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. For decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has worked to reduce infection rates by educating hospitals on best practices and making public the number of infections that are contracted by patients while at each facility. Still, "one in every 25 people who goes into the hospital to get well will end up getting an infection they didn't have when they walked in the door of the hospital," said Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director for health care associated infection programs at the CDC .