At Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, the staff prepares a patient for the operating room in a much different way than in years past.

The changes are a result of the staph infection methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which has been making headlines as is spreads throughout the Alleghenies in nursing homes, schools and businesses. Anyone is susceptible to the drug-resistant infection, which is why hospitals across the state are stepping up safety measures.

Disease experts said MRSA is the most common staph infection in the country and is responsible for 60 percent of all staph infections reported. About 20 to 30 percent of the population has MRSA in their system and, odds are, they don't even know it.

Because of those startling statistics, lawmakers in Harrisburg decided it was time to act -- and that means changes for hospital stays.

The increased safety procedures are part of Act 52, which is a mandate from Harrisburg to better report the cases of staph infections and help prevent them.

"Harrisburg has said high-risk patients have to be screened. It's up to us to determine who the high-risk patients are and what do we do about it," said Dr. Louis Schenfeld, an infectious disease expert.

For starters, operating room patients now use a special scrub called CHG when they shower before surgery.

"You take a shower before surgery but then you touch your car (and) everything on the way in here," said Brenda Winski, a nurse manager. "We just want to make sure we can do everything we can to prevent anything form happening, especially with the MRSA outbreaks in the community."

At Memorial, high-risk patients include those from nursing homes or people coming from the intensive care unit. They are given a nasal swab to see if any staph infections are lying dormant in their system before they go under the knife.

If the nasal swab comes back positive, hospital staffers emphasize the importance of good hand washing before and after care.

At Somerset Hospital, if the lab finds a positive MRSA screen, that patient is isolated and other departments are informed about the patient regardless of whether the infection is dormant.

In Blair County, Altoona Regional Medical Center has already started testing patients coming in for joint replacements, a group doctors said is of special concern.

"(For) patients that are going to have procedures like total joints, we test them to see if we want to use a more powerful antibiotic to prevent MRSA," said Dr. David Cowger of Altoona Regional Hospital.

Schenfeld said while it's not done now, Memorial Medical Center is thinking about testing implant patients in the future before surgery.

Another concern for hospitals is the current antibiotics that are used don't necessarily address MRSA. So, until the technology catches up, medical experts say preventative measures are more important than ever.