WASHINGTON -- In response to a national report on an increase in staph infections, Pennsylvania's Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, yesterday touted a bill that would create a public database showing how many infections are acquired by patients in each of the nation's hospitals.

"A hospital is a place where people go to get better. No one should have to worry about getting sick while they're there," he said.

About 2 million infections are acquired in health care facilities every year, Mr. Murphy said, citing statistics from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

His bill would require all hospitals and health care facilities to publicly report infection rates to the U.S. Department of Health, which would make the information available via its Web site, allowing patients to make side-by-side comparisons. "When hospitals start paying attention, they're going to reduce the rates," Mr. Murphy said.

Nineteen states already have enacted their own legislation mandating the reporting of infection levels, although not all make the information publicly available.

Pennsylvania already has strong reporting requirements, consumer advocates say. "This [Pennsylvania] is a state that is really determined to be clean," Jean L. Rexford, executive director of the Connecticut Center for Patient Safety, said after meeting with Mr. Murphy.

Pennsylvania hospital-acquired infection reports are available online at the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council's Web site, www.phc4.org.

Mr. Murphy's legislation also urges the federal Health Department to present an annual report to Congress on hospital-acquired infections and creates a pilot program to give grants to hospitals to improve preventive measures.