SMMC among top performing hospitals for treatment of heart attack patients

Monday, June 5, 2023

SMMC recognized as one of only 262 hospitals nationwide for the seventh consecutive year

St. Mary’s Medical Center (SMMC), a member of Mountain Health Network, has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2023.

St. Mary’s Medical Center (SMMC), a member of Mountain Health Network, has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2023. SMMC is one of only 262 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

This is the seventh consecutive year SMMC has received this recognition.

“Our compassionate, dedicated physicians and staff are committed to providing high-quality care to our patients,” said Melissa Mielcarek, MSHA, MBA, executive director, St. Mary’s Regional Heart Institute. “We are honored to once again receive this key recognition from the American College of Cardiology acknowledging our work.”

The award recognizes SMMC’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that SMMC 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, SMMC has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) 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’s an honor to award St. Mary’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 Virginian Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that SMMC 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 more than 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.

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.