Long Beach Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) Prevention Collaborative

Region(s) served: Long Beach, California
Project dates: March 2018–March 2019

Overview

Together with the City of Long Beach Health Department, the HAI Program convened a CRE prevention collaborative among acute care hospital and skilled nursing facilities in Long Beach, California. Each facility participated in an onsite infection prevention assessment, committed to a facility-specific action plan, and engaged staff at quarterly in-person learning sessions.

Goals and Objectives

Prevent transmission of CRE within and between facilities in Long Beach through the following objectives:

• Improve surveillance efforts by ensuring timely reporting of CRE cases
• Increase knowledge and capacity to prevent and control CRE in healthcare facilities throughout Long Beach
• Enhance coordination and communication among facilities to ensure that when patients with CRE are transferred appropriate infection prevention and control precautions are maintained

Participating Facilities and Organizations

• 4 hospitals
• 17 skilled nursing facilities
• Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services

Outcomes

• Addressed CRE reporting questions in Long Beach
• Provided education and resources on CRE and infection prevention for acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities
• Established a forum for local partners to build relationships, and share and discuss CRE prevention best practices
• Built local public health department capacity for CRE and HAI infection prevention activities
• Compiled CRE resources on the Long Beach CRE webpage
• Analysis of project impact using locally reported CRE data is in progress.

Testimonial

"Our CRE Collaborative came at a really good time, as we had recently made CRE reportable in Long Beach the year prior, and many facilities had questions on how to report and what CRE case management really meant. Having CDPH involved not only the planning of the educational sessions but having them attend meetings in-person was vital in increasing dialogue and strengthening the relationship among healthcare facilities and public health. Even our Health Department staff benefited, as we accompanied CDPH staff on the onsite assessments to learn exactly what to look for and how to use the assessment tools, and we now have several staff onsite who feel comfortable doing onsite assessments at skilled nursing facilities. Finally, the network analysis that CDPH provided was a big eye-opener for Long Beach healthcare facilities, as they were able to visualize the extent to which patients travel among facilities, and it really outlined the importance of good communication when transferring patients from place to place."

 Emily Holman, MSc
Communicable Disease Controller
Communicable Disease Control Program (CDCP) Supervisor
Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services

Overall, the CRE Collaborative was invaluable, not only because of the level of education and expertise provided, but because of the way it strengthened the relationship and communication between healthcare facilities and public health.

For more information on the Long Beach CRE Prevention Collaborative, contact HAIProgram@cdph.ca.gov. ​​