Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/national-campaign-aims-to-curb-hospital-mistakes-save-lives Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Nationwide, up to 98,000 deaths annually can be attributed to errors in U.S. hospitals, including misprescribed medication and hospital-acquired infections. The 100,000 Lives campaign wants to save money and lives by bringing together health care groups and hospitals. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. SUSAN DENTZER, NewsHour Health Correspondent: A typical scene in a hospital intensive care unit, or ICU. A very sick patient, Brenda Brisco (ph), is on a ventilator. That's a machine that takes over the job of breathing through a tube inserted into the mouth or nose and down into the windpipe.SUE KENNEDY, Sister of Ventilator Patient: Are you sleeping good, huh? Are you sleeping good, baby? SUSAN DENTZER: A 53-year-old cancer patient who also has diabetes and emphysema, Brisco was hospitalized recently after an apparent seizure. But a relieved sister, Sue Kennedy, told us Brisco would be going home soon. SUE KENNEDY: Because honestly, the day I brought her in here, I didn't think I'd take her out. And I'm pleased that I'm going to. SUSAN DENTZER: That's in part because this hospital, Community Hospital East of Indianapolis, took special steps to spare Brisco the fate of many ventilator patients. More than one in seven nationwide acquire a potentially deadly pneumonia caused when they cough up stomach juices and accidentally inhale them. DAN KIDWELL, Respiratory Therapist, Community Hospital East: Let's just adjust her rate and see if she's comfortable with that. SUSAN DENTZER: Respiratory therapist Dan Kidwell told us the condition is called ventilator associated pneumonia, or VAP. It kills almost half of those who get it. DAN KIDWELL: Their lungs start to show patterns of bacteria growth, and we have to treat them with antibiotics. It takes more staff and more hospital days in that unit in the ICU to take care of them. Some hospitals report $30,000 to $40,000 increased cost taking care of each patient with a VAP.