According to a study published today in JAMA: Internal Medicine, by the American Medical Association, the move to single-patient rooms at the Glen site of McGill University Health Center (MUHC) in 2015 led in considerably lower levels of hospital-acquired infections.

The research team found that rates of both colonization and blood infections due to common multi-drug resistant organism (VRE), dropped immediately and dramatically after the relocation.

According to the study’s first author Dr. Emily Gibson McDonald, apart from the single-patient room advantages of privacy, confidentiality, convenience, decreased noise, and enhanced sleep quality, the study also discovered that private rooms could help decrease life-threatening ‘ superbugs ‘ infections.

The research team at RI-MUHC looked at changes in the rates of infections over a period of 65 months, before and after the move of the Heritage Royal Victoria Hospital, which included many 3- to 4-person ward-type rooms, to the 350-bed Clen site with individual rooms, most of which are fitted with private bathrooms and showers and easy access to hand-washing sinks.

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