POTSDAM -- Following 19 consecutive months with no infections from total knee and hip replacement surgeries, representatives from Canton-Potsdam Hospital have been invited to speak at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s 24th annual National Forum March 7.

Participating in the forum will be members of the hospital’s operating room, ambulatory surgery, lab, and infection prevention team including Lisa McDonald, Karen Cox, Jeanette Dempsey, Nancy Foisy, Sally Remington, and Nancy Wood. Participants will share their process for implementing the project and how they were able to maintain their zero infections status through utilization of best practices.

Just four months after launching Project JOINTS (Joining Organizations in Tackling Surgical Site Infections) initiative in April of 2011, Canton-Potsdam Hospital (CPH) began seeing results. The hospital has had zero infections following knee and hip replacement surgeries since starting the program.

“The Project JOINTS Program holds healthcare organizations to a rigorous set of standards and protocols to follow. To ensure the best care for our patients, we’ve been diligent to adhere to those standards,” noted Sue Hodgson, vice president of quality and performance improvement and chief nursing officer.

“We recognize return visits, readmission, prolonged therapy, repeat surgeries, and redundant imaging scans are typically unnecessary if we all perform consistently. Through this program, we work collaboratively with our patients and set them up for a successful recovery,” she said.