A grieving daughter says there's no reason her father should die at a place designed to save his life. But she says hospital-acquired infections were too much for him. Each year across the country 90,000 patients die because of infections they get after entering the hospital.

"It's sort of like having your heart ripped through your nostrils. You love someone so much," said Janette Nuss.

Nuss says she watched as her father, Richard Ruley, died from infections that set in while he was on a ventilator.

"I felt it's something that I couldn't just walk away from. I just had to speak up," she said.

Nuss is now urging state senators to support a bill (HB 1106) to require all medical care facilities to report their infection rates.

"During his stay I saw more patients leave dead than alive," she told the state Senate committee.

Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, is sponsoring the bill.

"My father passed away as a result of hospital acquired infection," he said. "But to make it very clear this is not about that. This is about everybody and all of the families that suffer and I want to make sure it stops."

Lisa McGiffert of Consumers Union says it's important to get the word out.

"We feel that it's important for the public to know what the infection rate is at their local hospital to find out how safe their hospital is," she said. "And the other thing that public disclosure does it motivates the hospitals to improve and to do more to control these infections."

The Washington State Hospital Association says its members are doing a good job of infection prevention and welcomes the idea of mandatory reporting.

"It is correct that hospitals currently do voluntarily report to Hospital Compare and that we have not opposed that that be a mandatory requirement for all hospitals as long as the definitions are consistent," said Lisa Thatcher with the association.

But the association says the non-profit group the National Quality Forum should handle the reporting, not the Centers for Disease Control and the state health department.

Nuss fears that will delay the bill.

"As I wait for this bill to pass I cannot help but think about the other victims of this problem who lay in hospital beds waiting and hoping for a solution the same way my father did," she said.

The infection rate bill's sponsor hopes the wait will soon be over. This is the fourth year the measure has been up for a vote.

The bill passed the House last week and is now in the hands of the Senate.

More Information:

Washington State Legislature

Consumers Union Web site

Washington State Hospital Association