The State Senate thinks Missourians should know how many people get infected and their hospitals. The proposed changes in Missouri’s Open Records Law include a provision that hospitals will report how many people come down with staph infections, at the hospital, and what happens to them. Rolla Seanator Sarah Steelman says it’s an accountability issue. Steelman says she doubts hospitals will be sued because their staph records are public. The Health Department reports aggregate totals now, but not figures from individual hospitals. Steelman says the department has reported 77 deaths in Missouri in one year from staph infections, and 148 more people who died with a staph infection, but not because of a staph infectin. She says the Department reports more than 11,000 people had staph infections while in hospitals, but survived.
