Baptist Golden Triangle receives second Heart Association Award

Baptist Golden Triangle has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® Receiving Center – Silver Plus Level Recognition Award. The award is based on how well the hospital met certain Mission Lifeline compliance criteria for the treatment of patients who suffer a severe heart attack known as a STEMI.

Every year almost 300,000 people experience a STEMI, a type of heart attack caused by a complete blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it is critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either by opening the blocked vessel or by giving clot-busting medication.

To receive the Mission: Lifeline® Silver Plus Recognition Award the hospital must meet eight quality measures at least 85 percent of the time with no single measure falling below 75 percent during a 12-month period.

One of the criteria involves how fast the patient gets from the door of the emergency room to having blood flow restored. The national goal is less than 90 minutes. In 2013, Baptist Golden Triangle’s average door-to-device time was 52 minutes, according to Sherry Elmore, RN, director of cardiac services.

Other criteria involve the patient receiving aspirin, a beta blocker, cholesterol lowering medications and/or smoking cessation counseling either while in the hospital or when they are discharged home.

To receive the Silver Plus distinction, the facility must meet one additional, stricter measure, Elmore said. When a patient having a STEMI first goes to an emergency room at any hospital in the surrounding area and is transferred to Baptist Golden Triangle, Baptist has 120 minutes or less to get blood flow restored in that patient, starting from the time they arrived at the initial ER, she explained. “Our average time is 107 minutes,” said Elmore.

“I am extremely proud of all our hospital staff for helping to meet these quality criteria consistently to reach Lifeline® Receiving Center – Silver Plus status,” said Baptist Golden Triangle Administrator and CEO Paul Cade. “We especially congratulate our cardiac team, from the EMTs in the field, to the ER staff, to our cardiologists, to the cath lab team for getting blood flowing in those STEMI patients so quickly and pushing us up to the Silver Plus status.”

Elmore agreed that the Silver Plus designation is due to the quick actions of the hospital’s ambulance department, cardiologists, emergency room and cath lab teams.

“Everybody is dedicated to this program. They treat every patient as if he or she were their own family member,” she said. “Someone once said ‘to do great work you have to love your job.’ Their dedication in the delivery of timely care proves just that.”

Baptist Golden Triangle offers a wide range of cardiology services, from complete diagnostic services to open heart surgery, including an accredited cardiac rehab program for continued care after discharge.

Earlier this year, the hospital was one of only three in Mississippi to win the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Silver Award for meeting certain quality measures for the treatment of STEMI patients.