WHEELING — WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital recently found itself in very exclusive company among hospitals in the United States when it comes to standard of care for heart attack patients.

The hospital received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain — MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2022. It is one of only 240 hospitals nationwide to earn that honor.

The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. It also signifies Wheeling 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.

“This award validates that the best heart care in the region remains at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital,” said Douglass Harrison, President and CEO of Wheeling Hospital and Reynolds Memorial Hospital. “The partnership with WVU Heart and Vascular Institute continues to demonstrate that the best quality and the best outcomes happen at Wheeling Hospital. We are proud of this award and of the advanced care team that we have.”

To receive the Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Wheeling Hospital demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain — MI Registry for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021, 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.

The 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.

“It is an honor to award Wheeling Hospital 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 Wheeling Hospital 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.