Too many teaching hospitals are still exposing patients to dangerous bacteria via central line infections, according to Consumer Reports.

The new report identifies 31 U.S. teaching hospitals on its lowest-performing “zero tolerance” list and 32 on its list of top performers.

About 650,000 people develop infections after they are admitted to hospitals each year, and 75,000 patients die, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That makes hospital acquired infections the eighth leading cause of death, just behind diabetes. Central-line infections account for roughly 5 percent of all hospital infections, but are considered a critical subset because:

·         They are deadly in up to a quarter of cases.

·         They cost an average of $46,000 to treat, which is more than any other hospital infection, and the protocol to prevent them is not costly.

·         They are almost entirely preventable through the implementation of a checklist developed by Peter Pronovost, M.D., who developed a safety checklist similar to one used by pilots prior to takeoff. Developed in 2001, the Pronovost checklist is still considered the gold standard. While other hospital infections have stayed steady or declined only slightly in recent years, those linked to central lines were cut in half between 2008 and 2014, according to the CDC.

Lowest Scoring Teaching Hospitals from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015

Atlanta Medical Center -- Atlanta, GA

Banner- University Medical Center -- Tucson, AZ

Brooklyn Hospital Center -- Brooklyn, NY

Community Regional Medical Center -- Fresno, CA

Cooper University Health Care -- Camden, NJ

Dartmouth – Hitchcock Medical Center -- Lebanon, NH

Emory University Hospital Midtown -- Atlanta, GA

Eskenazi Health -- Indianapolis, IN

George Washington University Hospital -- Washington, DC

Grady Memorial Hospital -- Atlanta, GA

Holy Cross Hospital -- Silver Spring, MD

Howard University Hospital -- Washington, D.C.

Hurley Medical Center -- Flint, MI

Indiana University Health University Hospital -- Indianapolis, IN

Interim LSU Public Hospital -- New Orleans, LA

Long Beach Memorial Medical Center -- Long Beach, CA

MacNeal Hospital -- Berwyn, IL

Maine Medical Center -- Portland, ME

Maricopa Integrated Health System -- Phoenix, AZ

Nebraska Medicine - Nebraska Medical Center -- Omaha, NE

Palmetto Health Richland -- Columbia, SC

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital -- New Brunswick, NJ

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center -- Los Angeles, CA

SUNY Downstate Medical Center University Hospital -- Brooklyn, NY         

Truman Medical Center - Hospital Hill -- Kansas City, MO

Tulane Medical Center -- New Orleans, LA

UC San Diego Health -- San Diego, CA

UF Health Jacksonville -- Jacksonville, FL

University Hospital -- Newark, NJ

University Medical Center of El Paso -- El Paso, TX

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics -- Iowa City, IA

Highest-Scoring Teaching Hospitals

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital--Park Ridge, IL

Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital--Milwaukee, WI

Hahnemann University Hospital--Philadelphia, PA

HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center--Scottsdale, AZ

Long Island Jewish Medical Center--New Hyde Park, NY

Maimonides Medical Center            --Brooklyn, NY

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center  Baltimore, MD

Medical Center Health System--Odessa, TX

Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island--          Pawtucket, RI

Methodist Healthcare Memphis Hospitals--Memphis, TN

Mount Auburn Hospital--Cambridge, MA

Mount Sinai St. Luke's – Roosevelt--New York, NY

North Shore University Hospital--Manhasset, NY

Ochsner Medical Center--New Orleans, LA

OhioHealth Grant Medical Center--Columbus, OH

OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital--Columbus, OH

Saint Barnabas Medical Center--Livingston, NJ

San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center--San Francisco, CA

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital--Norfolk, VA

St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor--Ypsilanti, MI

St. Luke's University Hospital - Bethlehem Campus--Bethlehem, PA

Staten Island University Hospital--Staten Island, NY

The University of Toledo Medical Center--Toledo, OH

UC Irvine Medical Center--Orange, CA

UMass Memorial Medical Center--Worcester, MA

University of Chicago Medical Center--Chicago, IL

University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics--Columbia, MO

University of Tennessee Medical Center--Knoxville, TN

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center--Dallas, TX

University of Washington Medical Center--Seattle, WA

Upstate University Hospital--Syracuse, NY

West Virginia University Hospitals--Morgantown, WV

*Hospitals appear in alphabetical order.

*GRAPHIC COURTESY OF CONSUMER REPORTS