St. Luke’s Health Memorial Earns Awards for Treating Heart Attack Patients

St. Luke’s Health Memorial is committed to consistent, effective treatment of those suffering from heart attack symptoms in order to save lives and provide enhanced outcomes. As one of only 91 hospitals nationwide, St. Luke’s Health Memorial has received the prestigious American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry–Get With The Guidelines Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2015.

The award recognizes Memorial’s commitment to a high standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Memorial 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 Silver Performance Achievement Award, Memorial consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the ACTION Registry–GWTG for four consecutive quarters and met a performance standard of 90 percent for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry drives overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

“The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association commend Memorial for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols. The full implementation of acute and secondary prevention guideline-recommended therapy is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients,” said James Jollis, MD, FACC, ACTION Registry-GWTG Chair and Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Duke University Hospital.  

The Center for Disease Control estimates that over 700,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. 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 award reflects the hard work and dedication of the staff that care for some of our most seriously ill patients and their families,” said Shawn Barnett, Memorial Chief Operating Officer and Lufkin President. “The implementation of these guidelines requires successful coordination of the cardiovascular team and emergency personnel, and we’re proud to be among the select hospitals receiving this award.”

ACTION Registry–GWTG is a partnership between the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association with partnering support from the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. ACTION Registry-GWTG 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.

St. Luke’s Health Memorial also achieved the Mission: Lifeline® Receiving Center- BRONZE Level Recognition Award for treatment of patients presenting to the emergency department with a deadly type of heart attack that is caused by a prolonged blockage of blood supply in the heart, called a STEMI heart attack.