Hospital seeks drastic improvements through formation of quality improvement committee

For immediate release
July 25, 2007

Bani, DR – Significant work has been done by Infante Sano to improve the Nuestra Señora de Regla Hospital resulting from the formation of a quality improvement committee. Every department in the hospital is represented on the committee and meets weekly for two hours to set hospital wide priorities and take action steps.

To date, the committee has; developed a mission, vision, and values for the hospital that are now up on the wall all over the hospital, determined how to designate the 27 million pesos recently awarded to the hospital by the Dominican government, identified water, electricity, infection control, and record keeping as the critical issues for the hospital, prioritized needs by department, formed an infection control team, solicited an expert from a RedSalud program to come to Baní to work with the record keeping department, and improved overall motivation and interest in improving the hospital.

The committee’s work has already resulted in the perinatology area of the hospital being rewired and installed with voltage regulators in order to maintain consistent use from equipment during energy surges. This is a critical addition to the hospital, as the country frequently experiences fluctuation in energy delivery.

Infante Sano is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Children’s Hospital in Boston. Its goals are to improve infant and maternal health throughout Latin America. Infante Sano partners with existing hospitals and community health clinics and assists them in implementing effective health care guidelines. By training and providing medical supplies and equipment, Infante Sano enables local health care providers to improve quality health care services for mothers and newborns. For more information visit www.infantesano.org

Press Contact: Christa Thoeresz (781).894.8050 christa@infantesano.org