RID is a not-for-profit educational campaign committed to correcting a deadly problem that kills more people each year in the U.S. than AIDS, breast cancer, and auto accidents combined.

Where does it kill? In our hospitals.  What is it? Hospital infection.

The death toll is staggering, at least 103,000 lives a year. So is the economic cost.  Hospital infections add over $30 billion a year to the nation’s health tab in added hospital costs alone. 

These infections are almost all preventable.  An increasing number of hospitals in the U.S. are proving it, reducing some of the deadliest types of infections by 90%. We have the knowledge to prevent this problem. What has been lacking is the will.

That is why I founded the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.  (RID): to motivate hospitals to make infection a top priority; to disseminate to hospitals the latest, most authoritative research on how to prevent infections; to make the compelling economic case that preventing infections not only saves lives but also makes hospitals more profitable; to ensure that no matter where you live, you can find out which hospitals in your area have the worst infection problems; and to inform patients about steps they can take to reduce risk of infection.

RID holds forums throughout the United States and in foreign countries for hospital administrators and caregivers.

RID educates the public through television, radio, publications, our website at www.hospitalinfection.org, and our Fifteen Steps You Can Take to Reduce Your Risk of Getting a Hospital Infection.

RID works with state lawmakers and policy makers to develop hospital infection reporting legislation, MRSA screening legislation, and address other public health issues related to infection prevention.

RID lends its expertise to medical schools and nursing schools to educate their students about how bacteria spread from patient to patient and what caregivers can do to protect their own patients.  This may be RID’s most lasting legacy, ensuring that future generations of caregivers know how to “do no harm.”