 Healthcare-associated infections are an important threat to patient safety. Currently, between 5 and 10 percent of patients admitted to acute care hospitals acquire one or more infections; healthcare-associated infections affect approximately 2 million patients each year in the United States, result in 90,000 deaths, and are associated with an added cost of 4.5 to 5.7 billion per year. Seventy percent of healthcare-associated infections are caused by antimicrobial resistant bacteria, such as vancomycin-resistant enterococcus VRE, resulting in increased antimicrobial usage, morbidity and mortality, making prevention of multiresistant bacteria essential. 