New statewide data from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) show Oregon hospitals made some progress reducing healthcare-associated infections in 2024, but still fell short of national prevention benchmarks across multiple measures—a warning sign for patients on both sides of the Columbia River, including many Cowlitz County residents who receive specialty or emergency care in Portland or elsewhere in Oregon.

OHA’s Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Program reported that while some infection types improved compared with a 2015 baseline, Oregon hospitals overall did not meet most federal reduction targets for 2024, and Oregon hospitals lagged national performance in several categories. OHA publishes hospital-by-hospital results through a public dashboard tracking nine reportable HAI metrics. Sources: https://ktvz.com/health/2026/01/23/oha-says-oregon-hospitals-fall-short-in-meeting-national-standards-for-preventing-some-health-care-associated-infection-measures/ and https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/COMMUNICABLEDISEASE/HAI/Pages/Data.aspx

What the state is reporting

Healthcare-associated infections are infections patients pick up while receiving medical care for something else. These can include surgical-site infections and infections linked to catheters or central lines—serious complications that can lengthen hospital stays, raise costs, and increase the risk of disability or death.

In its 2024 summary, OHA reported:

  • Oregon hospitals performed worse than the 2015 baseline for most reportable surgical-site infection categories (with hysterectomy as an exception), and surgical-site infections increased in 2024 compared with 2023.
  • Acute care hospitals did better than the 2015 baseline for some measures in 2024, but critical access hospitals performed worse than the 2015 baseline for certain bloodstream infection measures.
  • Only one HAI category met the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) target in 2024: Clostridioides difficile infections, for both acute care and critical access hospitals.

OHA also noted a bright spot: hospitals statewide reported meeting all seven CDC “Core Elements” of antibiotic stewardship in 2024. Source: https://ktvz.com/health/2026/01/23/oha-says-oregon-hospitals-fall-short-in-meeting-national-standards-for-preventing-some-health-care-associated-infection-measures/

Local angle: Cowlitz County patients often cross state lines for care

Even when the data are Oregon-specific, the stakes are regional. In southwest Washington, people frequently travel outside their home county—and sometimes outside the state—for surgeries, specialty care, and high-acuity treatment. When hospital infection prevention slips anywhere in the region’s referral network, patients can pay the price in complications, repeat procedures, extended recovery time, and bills that follow them for years.

For local residents, the lesson is not “avoid care.” It’s that infection-prevention performance is a public safety issue—and transparency matters when communities are asked to trust large health systems with their lives.

What the dashboard can (and can’t) tell you

OHA’s Hospital Healthcare-Associated Infection Dashboard provides facility-specific trends and statewide comparisons across nine reportable infection categories dating back to 2016. The dashboard is hosted publicly and can be explored by infection type and hospital. Source: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/COMMUNICABLEDISEASE/HAI/Pages/Data.aspx

It’s important to read these numbers carefully:

  • Hospital infection metrics can fluctuate year to year, especially at smaller facilities with fewer cases.
  • “Worse than baseline” doesn’t automatically mean negligence—but it does mean prevention systems aren’t consistently hitting the targets patients deserve.
  • Public reporting is still one of the only ways communities can independently compare hospitals on patient-safety outcomes.

What patients can do before a procedure

Infection prevention isn’t only a hospital’s responsibility, but hospitals bear the overwhelming responsibility for maintaining safe staffing, clean environments, and rigorous protocols. Still, patients and families can reduce risk by asking clear questions:

  • What is this hospital’s recent rate of surgical-site infection for this procedure type?
  • What steps are taken to prevent catheter- and line-related infections?
  • What should I do at home to keep an incision clean, and when should I seek help?

Patients can also consult Oregon’s public HAI dashboard for hospital-level data before scheduling non-emergency procedures. Source: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/COMMUNICABLEDISEASE/HAI/Pages/Data.aspx

Bottom line

OHA’s January 23, 2026 release underscores a reality patients already know: hospital-acquired infections are not rare, and prevention is uneven. For Cowlitz County residents navigating a regional health-care system stretched by workforce shortages and rising costs, infection control is not just a technical metric—it’s a frontline measure of whether institutions are meeting their basic duty of care.

Sources

  • OHA data summary carried by KTVZ (Jan. 23, 2026): https://ktvz.com/health/2026/01/23/oha-says-oregon-hospitals-fall-short-in-meeting-national-standards-for-preventing-some-health-care-associated-infection-measures/
  • Oregon Health Authority — Healthcare-Associated Infections “Data” page (dashboard link): https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/COMMUNICABLEDISEASE/HAI/Pages/Data.aspx
  • OHA HAI reporting overview (what’s tracked): https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/COMMUNICABLEDISEASE/HAI/Pages/Reporting.aspx