Proventix Recognizes Winners of the First Annual Lathem Physician Leadership Award in Hand Hygiene

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Proventix Systems, Inc. of Birmingham, AL today announced the recipients of the First Annual Lathem Physician Leadership Award in Hand Hygiene. Created in honor of Dr. Mickey Lathem of Birmingham's Shelby Baptist Medical Center, the Lathem Award recognizes physicians who demonstrate a commitment to excellence and leadership in hand hygiene in their facilities.

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The 2011 recipients are Dr. Edmund Wroblewski, Chief Medical Officer at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, Dr. Robert Libke, Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Specialist at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, California and Dr. Michael Mohr of Apex Family Medicine in Denver, Colorado. All of this year's recipients act as change agents within their facilities and provide visible examples of excellence to patients, visitors and staff members.  

Dr. Edmund Wroblewski has over 35 years of experience and specializes in cardiology and internal medicine in Santa Barbara, CA. "Dr. Wroblewski is very supportive of the best practice processes that we promote," says Leslie Stanfield, Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.  "We even received a compliment from a regulatory surveyor on the success of our [hand hygiene] program, and I believe part of the success is due to the support that our program receives from Dr. Wroblewski."

With over 45 years of experience, Dr. Robert Libke specializes in infectious disease and internal medicine in Fresno, CA.  Dr. Libke has devoted time to developing and supporting a hospital-wide accountability program for hand hygiene which includes all staff and physicians. Christi Paradise of Saint Agnes Medical Center says, "Dr. Libke has been very supportive of our implementation of an electronic hand hygiene monitoring system as an adjunct to our current hand hygiene surveillance. This has enabled us to apply a more objective monitor than we have experienced with the direct observer based hand hygiene surveillance.  His support has allowed us to be the first hospital in the state of California with an electronic-based hand hygiene observation system."

Dr. Michael Mohr is a family practitioner in Denver, CO with over 13 years of experience.  When asked why Dr. Mohr was nominated for the Lathem Award, Michael Matsuura, Infection Control Monitor at Bingham Memorial Hospital, asserted that after shadowing Dr. Mohr for four months, he could never recall an instance in which Dr. Mohr did not wash his hands.  He says, "Dr. Mohr consistently uses automatic hand-hygiene dispensers.  He washes before contact with his patients and after — 100% [of the time].  Because Dr. Mohr deals with infectious patients on a daily basis, he truly understands the importance of proper hand hygiene.  By encouraging his patients and his co-workers to wash his hands, he takes the extra step to educate his patient's on proper hand hygiene."

"Creating a culture of improved hand hygiene is the most important aspect to preventing infections," said Harvey Nix, CEO of Proventix Systems Inc. "Research suggests that physician-led quality improvement efforts gain the most traction.  The Lathem Award was created to reward those physicians who lead by example in making patients' lives safer.  This year's recipients have all demonstrated a commitment to excellence and taken a lead role to improve the culture within each of their facilities."

About Proventix Systems, Inc.

Proventix Systems, Inc., based in Birmingham, Alabama, is a RFID company whose mission is to eliminate the human and economic costs of infectious disease in the healthcare industry. They provide tools and services for quality compliance monitoring with time-saving functionality to help healthcare workers improve workflow and increase efficiency in order to deliver quality patient care. Visit: www.proventix.com.

For more information, contact:
Rebecca Kelley, 205-383-1156
[email protected]

SOURCE Proventix Systems, Inc.