2026 HAI Annual Report Released

 

To: Facility Administrators and Infection Preventionists From: CDPHE Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program  The Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Annual Report for 2026 is now available. This report contains 2025 rates of HAIs that Colorado health care facilities report to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment via the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). It includes infections associated with urinary catheters, central lines, dialysis, and surgeries. It also includes hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infections. Rates of HAIs from 2024 are included for comparison. The written narrative report is available now, and an updated dashboard will be available in the coming weeks. In 2025, overall rates of the following conditions were lower (better) than the national baseline: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections in acute care hospitals overall and in adult and pediatric critical care units and inpatient wards Central line-associated bloodstream infections in acute care hospitals overall, adult and pediatric critical care units and inpatient wards in acute care hospitals, and long-term acute care hospitals Clostridioides difficile infections in acute care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities Overall rates of the following conditions were higher (worse) than the national baseline: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections in long-term acute care hospitals  Surgical site infections following breast surgeries and knee replacement surgeries conducted in outpatient units attached to acute care hospitals Surgical site infections following inpatient hip replacement surgeries in critical access hospitals Surgical site infections following knee replacement surgeries in ambulatory surgery centers In 2025, overall rates of the following conditions were lower (better) than the rates from 2024: Central line-associated bloodstream infections in acute care hospitals in adult and pediatric critical care units and inpatient wards Overall rates for other conditions were similar to the national baseline or suppressed due to small numbers of events. Facility-specific rates of HAIs are presented in detail. The 2026 HAI Annual Report is the first report to use the 2022 NHSN baseline. NHSN updated the baseline in 2022, meaning the risk adjustment for the standardized infection ratio (SIR) was updated to account for facility, patient, and healthcare characteristics relevant in 2022. The most recent prior baseline was updated in 2015. SIRs calculated using the 2022 baseline will not be directly comparable to SIRs calculated using the 2015 baseline. The 2015 baseline was used in the HAI annual report through 2025.  Questions about the report can be directed to the HAI Program at cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us.