Next month, the South Carolina chapter of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) will be awarded the 2012 APIC Chapter Excellence Award in Strategic Alliance. The APIC Palmetto Chapter will be honored for establishing alliances with other organizations with similar goals and missions and for influencing public policy either independently or in conjunction with allied organizations. The award will be presented at APIC’s 39th Annual Educational Conference & International Meeting,  which will be held on June 4–6 in San Antonio, Texas. 

“The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME) would like to congratulate our stakeholder and collaborating partner, APIC Palmetto, for being internationally recognized for this prestigious award,” said Kimberly Oliger MBA, MSN, RN, a care improvement specialist at CCME. “APIC is a worldwide professional association for infection preventionists. Their educational programs, products, and services support the infection prevention activities of the many patient safety stakeholders.” 

APIC Palmetto serves on CCME’s Healthcare Association Infection Advisory Panel, which focuses on the prevention of life-threatening health care-acquired infections, including surgical site infections, bloodstream infections, and urinary tract infections. 

Cherie Setzler, RN, B-C, CIC, immediate past president of APIC Palmetto and an infection preventionist at Mary Black Health System in Spartanburg, SC, saidmany of the chapter members have been involved with CCME initiatives for several years.  

“Our association with CCME has afforded yet another means of networking and information sharing—keeping us up-to-date in the world of infection prevention,” Setzler said. “Face-to-face meetings with CCME staff offer insightful speakers and an opportunity for problem solving.” 

APIC Palmetto is also a collaborative partner in CCME’s quality initiative to reduce the prevalence of health care-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). CCME helps each hospital carry out best practices, such as “right prescribing” of antibiotics, use of standard precautions, consistent hand hygiene, cleaning/decontamination of the environment, and inclusion of all health care staff members in intervention measures. 

“Preventing hospital-acquired infections is a challenging endeavor,” Setzler said. “We are grateful for the wonderful help CCME gives us to promote patient and community safety.” 

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