From the moment someone experiences chest pain until graduating from a personalized cardiac rehabilitation program, CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial provides a continuum of award-winning quality heart care.

It was recently announced that CHI St. Luke’s Health is the 2nd hospital in the state and the 9th in nation to receive the American College of Cardiology’s most prestigious designation as a HeartCARE Center™, National Distinction of Excellence in response to the hospital’s demonstrated commitment to comprehensive, high-quality cardiovascular care.

“This award is a testament to the great strides we have made and will continue to make for our community in the fight against heart disease,” said Monte Bostwick, President and CEO of CHI St Luke’s Health-Memorial. “Any cardiovascular event can be daunting. We think it’s important our patients can remain here – closer to their loved ones – for their treatment and recovery.”

Over the past several years, the hospital has placed a major focus on providing the very best cardiovascular care by purchasing the latest, most innovative technology, recruiting highly trained physicians and clinical staff, and enhancing overall quality.

“To be designated by the ACC as a HeartCARE Center, National Distinction of Excellence is a tremendous honor and achievement for health care in deep East Texas,” said Ravinder Bachireddy, M.D., FACC, Chief of Cardiology at CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial and ACC Cardiovascular Champion. “Thanks to the excellent efforts and commitments of our physicians, nurses and support services, CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial is one step closer to beating heart disease in deep East Texas.”

In order to earn the ACC HeartCARE Center designation, CHI St. Luke’s Health had to meet a specific set of criteria, including targeted quality improvement campaigns. The hospital was considered for the designation because of its accredited Chest Pain and Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, along with the advancement and quality focus in the Cardiac Cath Lab, Electrophysiology Lab and Heart Failure program. The hospital also participated in numerous registries, which are powerful tools used by healthcare organizations across the nation to track and manage quality measures. There are dozens of standards that must be met in order to achieve the HeartCARE designation. Examples include improving re-admission and mortality rates, tracking the time it takes for a patient to receive certain tests or medications and how long it takes for a patient to be prepped for any necessary interventional procedures or cardiovascular surgery.

“This designation is the result of a process developing collaborative efforts with nursing staff, ER, Cath Lab staff and physicians,” said M. Musa Khan, M.D., FACC, Chief of Staff at CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin and Medical Director of the CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Cath Lab. “We have built a program which exemplifies a culture of patient safety and excellence.”

CHI St. Luke’s Health and other hospitals accredited as HeartCARE Centers are recognized as champions in providing their community world-class patient care through a sustainable quality improvement program.

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