SJRMC Receives Award for Heart Attack Treatment

In October 2009, SJRMC received Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s prestigious Meritorious Award for its efficiency in the treatment of patients with heart attack symptoms.

In 2004, SJRMC’s Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) Team began meeting monthly to develop 913 CODE STEMI (ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction) – the hospital’s activation system for heart attack emergencies. SJRMC implemented the system on January 1, 2006.

In 2007, 84 percent of SJRMC’s 76 STEMI patients were treated in less than 90 minutes - the amount of time the American College of Cardiology deems the national gold standard – with an average time of 73 minutes. For quarter four in 2007, 92 percent of SJRMC’s STEMI patients were treated in less than 90 minutes with an average time of 68 minutes.

“Our Cardiologists, Emergency Department Physicians, Nurses and Staff, Catheterization Lab Team, and the local EMS communities have committed and collaborated to significantly reduce the time it takes for patients to receive the necessary intervention from the time they are brought to us,” said Nancy R. Hellyer, SJRMC CEO & President.

In November, 2006, a national study found that only one-third of hospitals provide emergency care to heart attack patients quickly enough to meet scientific guidelines for saving lives, standardized by the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

Studies show that reopening clogged arteries with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), inflating a tiny balloon at the site of the blockage, can increase a patient’s chance of surviving a heart attack by 60%, but only if it is done within 90 minutes of the patient’s arrival at the hospital. This is the door-to-PCI time gold standard.

The study, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, reported that only 35% of hospitals in the United States meet the 90-minute, or less, gold standard door-to-PCI time.