From the symposium keynote address, this paper aims to explore how healthcare‐associated infections (HAIs) have been transformed from being only a hospital concern to a much broader public health concern.
The paper is a narrative review.
HAIs have the characteristics that define issues as public health problems. As a result, public health departments can become important partners in the evolving hospital infection control field. However, whether all state health departments can afford to add HAI experts and whether current public health department HAI activities will be effective in preventing HAIs remain important questions.
Public health agencies must be selective about focusing limited resources into areas where they can protect and improve the public's health; whether HAIs are such an area remains to be seen. Although HAIs have historically been the focus of hospitals and hospital‐based services, public health involvement has been mandated through state and federal legislation. In theory, the new mandate is appropriate; in practice, its impact and value need to be comprehensively assessed.
The interdisciplinary team required to evaluate HAI mandatory public reporting comprehensively needs to start from an understanding of the history and concepts underlying public health practice.
