Heart care programs at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central and Memorial North earned top re-accreditations this summer.
UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central is an American College of Cardiology HeartCARE Center: National Distinction of Excellence facility. Both Memorial Hospital Central and Memorial Hospital North received Chest Pain Center Accreditation with Primary PCI and Resuscitation designations.
Last month, UCHealth Memorial Hospital leaders were notified of the re-accreditations first earned in 2019.
“Attaining this designation shows our commitment to providing the very best care,” Bradden Cannon, senior director of cardiovascular services, said. “We continue to meet the rigorous requirements this award requires and to provide patients peace of mind.”
Memorial Hospital first earned the HeartCARE designation in 2019 and remains the only hospital in southern Colorado to earn the accreditation. Only 25 hospitals in the nation have earned the designation.
To become a HeartCARE Center: National Distinction of Excellence hospital, Memorial Hospital Central met specific criteria including at least two other cardiovascular accreditations and participation in quality improvement programs to enhance patient care and outcomes.
Again this year, Memorial Hospital Central and Memorial Hospital North received ACC Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI and Resuscitation accreditations based
on rigorous on-site evaluation of the staff’s ability to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. The accreditations are good for three years.
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is also known as coronary angioplasty. It is a non-surgical procedure that opens narrowed or blocked coronary arteries
with a balloon to relieve symptoms of heart disease or reduce heart damage during or after a heart attack.
According to the ACC, hospitals that earn the Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI and Resuscitation demonstrate exceptional competency in treating patients with heart attack symptoms and have primary PCI available 24/7 every day of the year. The accreditation requires the hospitals to comply with Chest Pain Center protocols and be equipped with a robust hypothermia program for post-cardiac arrest treatment. Designated hospitals maintain a no diversion policy for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients.
More than 730,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. The most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort, though many heart attacks are silent. Silent myocardial infarctions may account for 45% of heart attacks and earned their name because when they occur, their symptoms lack the intensity of a classic heart attack including chest pain and pressure, stabbing pain in the arm, neck, or jaw, shortness of breath, sweating and dizziness.
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