Infection Prevention

The Aspen Valley Hospital Infection Prevention Specialist is tasked with active measures to prevent illness in people receiving or giving care.

1. All staff and attending personnel are involved in infection prevention.
2. Patient infection risk factors are observed on a continual basis, through communication with physicians and nurses, as well as lab results and chart reviews.
3. Sterilizers have infection checks with every load to maintain sterility of equipment and instruments.
4. Isolation and masks, gowns and gloves are utilized to keep known infection from circulating outside of a patient’s room, which could potentially expose other patients, staff members or visitors.
5. Employees comply with immunization practices to help ensure optimal health while caring for patients.
6. Visitor policies assist to keep community infections outside of the facility.
7. Constant vigilance helps assure an environment is as contamination-free as possible.
8. Drug resistance in the community is monitored through microorganism and medication use reports.
9. Aspen Valley Hospital infection statistics are sent to various quality organizations for comparison to healthcare facilities within the state of Colorado and throughout the nation.
10. The Aspen Valley Hospital Infection Control Committee reviews all infection prevention statistics and related procedures/policies, implementing change as needed.