Gov. Ed Rendell said yesterday that he will seek new regulations aimed at curbing the costly, even deadly infections that patients can acquire in hospitals.

During a visit to a veterans hospital in Oakland, Mr. Rendell said he favored linking the re-licensing of hospitals to their progress in implementing a standard protocol for preventing the infections. He also praised the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System's efforts to eliminate them.

VA Pittsburgh, which began a successful initiative several years ago to reduce hospital-acquired infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA, has been helping selected veterans hospitals around the nation to battle the infections.

Dr. Rajiv Jain, VA Pittsburgh's acting director, said all the nation's VA hospitals will begin MRSA control efforts in some units by March 1.

Reducing infections arising in hospitals is part of the governor's Prescription for Pennsylvania, a plan he unveiled last week aimed at cutting health care costs, improving quality and increasing access to health care for about 767,000 uninsured adults.

Several other states have advanced or are implementing plans for covering significant numbers of their uninsured residents.

Calls for covering greater numbers of the uninsured also have surfaced in Washington, and President Bush advanced two proposals in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

The president unveiled a plan to provide federal funds to states working to help their uninsured residents obtain coverage. He also recommended giving a tax deduction to people who purchase their own health insurance, while placing a cap on the tax-free health benefits other workers now receive through their employers.

Officials for some health care groups have questioned whether the tax plan would help many more people obtain coverage. Mr. Rendell echoed that view but said he welcomed the offer of federal aid for Pennsylvania's plan.

Paula Bussard, a senior vice president for the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, said her group needs more details of the governor's infection control proposals.

The cost of the control effort and how it would be paid for are among a number of issues that should be considered, she said.

According to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, the average charge for treating hospital-acquired infections is about $185,000, compared with about $31,000 for patients without such infections.

Mr. Rendell contends that reducing those infections and making other improvements, such as better management of chronic conditions like diabetes, could save billions of dollars in health care costs.

Prescription for Pennsylvania calls for the state to eventually stop paying health care providers for treatment associated with hospital-acquired infections or medical errors.

Another part of the plan, Cover All Pennsylvanians, is aimed at providing affordable, basic coverage to small businesses and uninsured people through the private insurance market.

The plan includes a long list of other proposals, including the phasing in of a requirement that uninsured people earning more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level obtain health insurance and that businesses pay assessments if they do not help their employees obtain coverage.