AVMC Receives Silver Award for Antimicrobial Stewardship Program

A program of the California Department of Public Health

(Lancaster, CA, January 26, 2022) – Antelope Valley Medical Center announces it was awarded the Silver Medal by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Program’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Honor Roll. This honor is awarded based on meeting a number of criteria set to measure how robust the antimicrobial stewardship efforts are. By demonstrating success in these different areas, Antelope Valley Medical Center (AVMC) protects our community from the harms of overuse of antibiotics and improves outcome for patients being treated for infections.

The Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Program in the California Department of Public Health Center for Health Care Quality oversees the prevention, surveillance, and reporting of HAI and antimicrobial resistance (AR) in California's hospitals and other healthcare facilities, according to the CDPH website. Unfortunately, infections developing as a result of receiving health care services remain a public health problem. Since most healthcare associated infections are preventable, AVMC actively follows infection prevention care practices.

According to CDPH, antimicrobial stewardship (AS) programs (ASP) have been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes and reduce adverse consequences, including combatting antimicrobial resistance (AR) and mitigating Clostridioides difficile infections.

“Recognized statewide, this award demonstrates our commitment to quality and safety for the patients we serve,” says Ross Bauman, Pharm.D., Executive Director of Professional Services at Antelope Valley Medical Center. “This is a collaborative effort among our medical professionals to improve and optimize patient care. We thank Dr. Nilesh Hingarh, Dr. Hien Truong, both Infectious Disease physicians and Deanna Quan, Infectious Disease Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in leading our hospital’s efforts.”