One of the most common infections in the hospital is a catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). This occurs when germs enter the body via a urinary catheter, a tube inserted into the urinary tract to drain urine. These infections can lead to serious complications, even death, especially for critically ill patients.

How does UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco measure CAUTIs?

We measure these infection rates using the methods of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate is expressed as the number of infections per 1,000 urinary catheter days (the number of days a patient has a urinary catheter in place).

What is your hospital's CAUTI rate?

Lower is better when comparing these infection rates. Individual hospital units compare their data with NHSN data.

UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco had a CAUTI rate of 0.88 CAUTI per 1,000 urinary catheter days in fiscal year 2022.

Our goal is to have zero catheter-associated urinary tract infections in our hospital.