03.15.11

Durbin Announces a $2 Million CDC Grant for Research in Chicago That Aims to Reduce Infections

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded a $2 million grant to a joint collaborative between the Cook County Health and Hospital System and the Rush University Medical Center to support efforts to develop and test innovative approaches to reducing infections in health care setting. This funding is part of the CDC’s Prevention Epicenter grant program, which awarded $10 million nationwide today.

 

“The work that the Cook County Health System and the Rush University Medical Center is doing is critical to reducing the emergence of healthcare –associated infections,” said Durbin. “We have a national responsibility to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of these infections.”

 

The CDC’s Prevention Epicenter grant program allows academic leaders in health care to partner with CDC experts in innovative research to prevent healthcare-associated infection (HAIs). HAIs are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving health care treatment for other conditions. According to the CDC, approximately 1 out of every 20 hospitalized patients will contract an HAI, making prevention of HAIs a major public health concern.