WHEELING – Wheeling Hospital has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain — MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2019. It is one of only 225 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

The award recognizes Wheeling Hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies it 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.

Interventional cardiologist Dr. Triston Smith, chief of Cardiology and clinical director of Structural Heart and Complex Interventions, said, “Wheeling Hospital prides itself as being the standard bearer for cardiac care in the region. To that end, we strive to hold ourselves to the highest standards of quality.

“To have received such a designation from a national body as esteemed as the NCDR validates the commitment we have as an organization to providing superior cardiovascular care to those we serve. This designation is an embodiment of our great team effort and highlights the interdepartmental cohesiveness that allows us to perform at an exceptionally high level.”

To receive the Chest Pain — MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Wheeling Hospital demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain — MI Registry for eight consecutive quarters and performed at the top level of standards 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.

“As a Platinum Performance Award recipient, Wheeling Hospital has established itself as a leader in setting the national standard for improving quality of care in patients with acute myocardial infarction,” said Dr. Michael C. Kontos, chairman of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “By meeting the award requirements set forth in the registry, Wheeling Hospital has demonstrated a commitment to providing reliable, comprehensive treatment for heart attack patients based on current clinical guideline recommendations.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 700,000 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.