Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center Included in Nation’s Top Performing Hospitals for Treatment of Heart Attack Patients

American College of Cardiology NCDR Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Award recognizes sustained, high level performance in quality of care

HOUSTON - July 21, 2022 — Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, home of the Texas Heart® Institute, has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2022. Baylor St. Luke’s is one of only 240 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor. 

The award recognizes Baylor St. Luke’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies the hospital has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations. 

To receive the Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Baylor St. Luke’s has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain  ̶   MI Registry for a 12-month period, and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

“It is an honor to award Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Baylor St. Luke’s remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.

“This recognition from the American College of Cardiology is yet another indication that Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center provides the highest standard of care for heart attack patients,” said Liz Youngblood, SVP/COO of St. Luke's Health and president of Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. “The expertise of our cardiovascular and cardiology specialists is unmatched in the region and consistently recognized as among the best in the nation.” 

Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.

About American College of Cardiology

The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its more than 56,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC bestows credentials upon cardiovascular professionals who meet stringent qualifications and leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through its world-renowned JACC Journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more, visit acc.org.

About Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center

Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center is an 881-bed quaternary care academic medical center that is a joint venture between Baylor College of Medicine and St. Luke’s Health. Located in the Texas Medical Center, the hospital is the home of the Texas Heart Institute, a cardiovascular research and education institution founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD. The hospital was the first in Texas and the Southwest designated a Magnet Recognition Program hospital for Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, receiving the award five consecutive times. Baylor St. Luke’s also has three community emergency centers offering adult and pediatric care for the Greater Houston area.