Opinion: Infections acquired in health facilities are a big problem. National reporting can help fix it
Contagious diseases are as old as time and routinely appear in health care settings. New ones emerge from time to time. Yet the U.S. health care system, the most expensive in the world, was tragically unprepared for the emergence of Covid-19.
Health care facilities should excel at preventing the transmission of infection, but far too many fail at it. Health care-acquired infections are estimated to kill 99,000 people a year in hospitals alone.
