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Hello, my name is Cyril King.
Eight years ago, my daughter, Josie, died from medical errors at Johns Hopkins.
After her death, my husband Tony and I partnered with Peter
Pronovose and his safety research team at Hopkins to improve patient safety.
Four years after Josie died, I asked Peter a question.
I asked him if Jossy was in the hospital now, would she be safer.
At that time, he could not answer my question.
Central line associated blood stream infections kill
between 30 and 60,000 patients each year.
Unlike cancer, AIDS, or diabetes we don't have
to wait for scientific breakthrough to fix this problem.
We can do it now.
In September of 2003, over 100 intensive care units in
Michigan came together and partnered with Peter and his team.
The project was called the Michigan Keystone Project.
The Keystone Project was a huge success.
After two years of hard work, the Keystone Team
demonstrated that central line infections could be virtually eliminated.
Those estimated that 1500 lives had been saved, patients spent 81,000 fewer days in
the hospital, and hospitals saved over a $165 million because of the intervention.
Josie's story helped inspire the Michigan hospitals
to come together to achieve this goal.
At the end of the two-year project, Peter invited
me to Michigan where I was presented with a book.
The book was filled with letters from the hospitals that had participated.
Each letter told me exactly how each ICU had eliminated central line infections
on their floor, how they had become safer, and how lives had been saved.
The state had eliminated these infections and had improved the culture of safety.
Fewer people were dying from medical errors.
I had the beginnings of the answer to my question.
I ask you to do the same in your hospital and in your state.
Please join Peter and his team.
Form a team in your hospital.
Ensure that all of your staff know the science of safety.
Please work together to eliminate central line bloodstream infections.
I know this is not an easy task.
It will require discipline, robust measurements, and most of all,
it will require hard work, but it can be done.
100 ICUs in Michigan did it.
You can do it too.
I will eagerly await your results as you work towards an answer to my question.
Is Josie less likely to die today than she was in 2001?
Thank you.