St. Luke Community Healthcare recognized for infection prevention
St. Luke Community Healthcare | Lake County Leader | UPDATED 1 hour, 44 minutes AGO
A multidisciplinary team from St. Luke Community Healthcare, composed of Infection Preventionist John Dresen, Director of Nursing Abigail Byers, Quality Improvement Manager Katie Harding and Med/Surg Clinical Nurse Manager Quincy Taylor, were instrumental in decreasing the urine culture contamination rate and earning a Quality Improvement Award from the Montana Rural Healthcare Performance Improvement Network. (Courtesy photo)
St. Luke Community Healthcare was recently awarded the Montana Rural Healthcare Performance Improvement Network’s Quality Improvement Award for its work on infection prevention.
St. Luke received the Montana Rural Healthcare Performance Improvement Network (PIN) award for a successful infection prevention initiative that reduced urine culture contamination rates from 44% in 2025 to 30% in the second quarter of 2026.
The project began after routine infection prevention surveillance found that 59 of 133 urine cultures collected in 2025 were contaminated. Contaminated specimens can delay diagnosis, lead to repeat testing and unnecessary antibiotic use, increase costs and affect the patient experience.
A closer review identified inconsistent collection instructions and challenges with obtaining reliable clean-catch specimens.
A multidisciplinary team representing infection prevention, nursing leadership and quality improvement developed a plan to address those challenges. The team standardized collection procedures and education for staff and patients, introduced a decision-making workflow for choosing the appropriate collection method, and reinforced the use of intermittent catheterization when clinically appropriate.
Staff training, individualized coaching and ongoing review of contamination data helped strengthen consistent practices.
By the end of the second quarter of 2026, St. Luke had met its goal of reducing the overall contamination rate to 30% or lower. According to a hospital spokesperson Summer Goddard, the improvement supports more reliable test results, fewer unnecessary repeat collections and more timely treatment decisions.
She noted that the team plans to continue monthly monitoring, share results with nursing staff and reinforce best practices through orientation and ongoing training.
“These measures are intended to maintain gains and promote a culture of continuous improvement,” Goddard said.
The Montana Rural Healthcare PIN is a voluntary network of 49 critical access hospitals that collaborate to measure performance and improve the quality of rural healthcare. Its quality improvement efforts are supported by the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program.
Learn more at www.stlukehealthcare.org.