Preventable Harm

Preventable Harm in Las Vegas Hospitals

The Las Vegas Sun identified 969 instances of preventable hospital-acquired harm — bedsores, falls, infections and other injuries — that could be deadly for patients. The information was gleaned from an analysis of Nevada's hospital inpatient records. While the events are relatively rare considering the total number of discharges, they are avoidable and should not happen at all.

Foreign
Object
Retained
After Surgery
Stage III
and IV Pressure Ulcers*
Falls and Trauma Manifestations
of Poor
Glycemic
Control
Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Vascular Catheter-
Associated Infection
Surgical Site Infection* (Heart bypass) Surgical Site Infection* (Bariatric) Surgical Site Infection* (Orthopedic) Deep Vein Thrombosis/
Pulmonary Embolism*
Total
(per 10,000) (per 10,000) (per 10,000) (per 10,000) (per 10,000) (per 10,000) (per 100) (per 100) (per 1,000) (per 1,000)
Centennial Hills 0 1 (0.83) 10 (5.95) 0 2 (1.19) 6 (3.57) 0 0 0 2 (2.48) 21
Desert Springs 0 2 (1.30) 10 (3.96) 0 2 (0.79) 27 (10.70) 0 0 1 (2.88) 2 (8.62) 44
Mountain View 0 6 (2.90) 32 (9.47) 3 (0.89) 1 (0.30) 36 (10.66) 1 (0.38) 0 0 2 (6.15) 81
North Vista 0 2 (1.78) 19 (10.19) 1 (0.54) 1 (0.54) 17 (9.12) 0 0 0 1 (3.91) 41
Saint Rose
Rose de Lima
0 1 (0.84) 12 (6.15) 0 2 (1.03) 36 (18.46) 0 1 (0.22) 0 1 (2.67) 53
Saint Rose
San Martin
0 2 (1.81) 12 (6.86) 0 5 (2.86) 35 (20.01) 0 0 1 (1.05) 9 (25.71) 64
Saint Rose
Sienna
0 6 (2.40) 23 (5.80) 2 (0.50) 8 (2.02) 106 (26.74) 0 0 1 (1.39) 13 (7.30) 159
Southern Hills 2 (1.39) 3 (3.33) 18 (12.47) 0 3 (2.08) 5 (3.46) 0 0 0 9 (11.07) 40
Spring Valley 0 2 (0.99) 13 (4.04) 0 1 (0.31) 20 (6.22) 0 0 3 (4.94) 10 (6.24) 49
Summerlin 1 (0.23) 0 19 (4.43) 0 12 (2.80) 15 (3.50) 0 0 0 4 (7.98) 51
Sunrise 7 (1.02) 37 (8.85) 52 (7.60) 4 (0.58) 5 (0.73) 71 (10.38) 0 0 1 (1.25) 8 (16.03) 185
UMC 8 (1.56) 13 (4.31) 19 (3.71) 2 (0.39) 5 (0.98) 66 (12.88) 0 1 (1.64) 5 (3.63) 0 119
Valley 3 (0.67) 4 (1.45) 9 (2.00) 1 (0.22) 10 (2.22) 35 (7.76) 0 0 0 0 62
Foreign Object Bedsore Falls Glycemic Catheter Vascular Infection Site Infection Embolism
Total 21 79 248 13 57 475 15
(All surgical site infections)
61 969
* Pressure ulcer data reflected is from the fourth quarter of 2008 and after. No specific codes identified pressure ulcers before then. Rates for surgical site infections are for patients with the specific procedure mentioned. Rates for deep vein thrombosis / pulmonary embolism are only for patients with a hip or knee replacement.
SOURCE: Nevada Hospital Inpatient Data