St. Luke’s-Lufkin Receives High Ranking for Coronary Intervention

St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin continues to be recognized and awarded for its innovation and leadership in cardiovascular care. Recently, the hospital made the list of top hospitals for coronary intervention as reported by Becker’s Hospital Review.

There are 170 hospitals including St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin in the 2023 Becker’s Hospital Review, the leading hospital magazine for hospital business news and analysis for hospital and health care systems.

Each year, Healthgrades measures hospital performance based on patient outcomes for the most recent three-year time period available for nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Only the top hospitals that deliver superior patient outcomes in coronary intervention procedures including angioplasty with a stent receive the 2023 Specialty Excellence Awards for Coronary Intervention.

“It is a great honor to be listed among the greats in cardiovascular care,” says Monte Bostwick, Market President, St. Luke’s Health-Memorial (East Texas). “It is not something we take lightly. Our team, in partnership with The Heart Institute of East Texas, works diligently daily to provide quality care that results in good outcomes for our patients.”

Sanctioned as a HeartCare Center of Excellence since 2018 by the American College of Cardiologists, St. Luke’s Health-Memorial is home to nationally-recognized cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons and is the highest accredited chest pain center in the region.

“The Specialty Excellence Award as one of the 100 best hospitals for Coronary Interventions elevates Lufkin to the national map. While taking into consideration patient risks and comorbidities, and achieving excellent outcomes is a remarkable achievement,” says Ravinder Bachireddy, MD, FACC, FSCAI, FCCP, Chief of Cardiology at St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin and President of The Heart Institute of East Texas. “We are very proud of our entire CV healthcare team.”

In 2013, Memorial Lufkin and The Heart Institute of East Texas formed an alliance centered on their mutual desire to build a premier hospital-based heart care program that established Lufkin as a regional healthcare center.

Heart disease is the biggest killer in the United States, followed by cancer, and East Texas is no exception.

“I cannot overstate the care that I got at St. Luke’s Health-Memorial from the time that I got out of the vehicle until they carted me upstairs,” says Roy Knight, a recovered heart attack patient. “The quality of service that I received there could not have been better had it been in Houston, TX at one of those world-renowned hospitals; I had that care right here at CHI Memorial.”

Knight also has high praise for Subramanya Venkata, M.D., cardiologist and the hospital CATH Lab team who were on duty on October 27 of last year, the day he underwent emergency heart surgery at St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin.

The longtime educator and retired Lufkin Independent School District superintendent had just played one of his best rounds of golf. He was cooling down and starting a set of weight lifting when without warning he began having excruciating pains in his chest. He recognized the signs of a heart attack. His wife rushed him to the hospital.

“When it comes to heart care for East Texans, St. Luke’s Health-Memorial remains committed to playing a major role in supporting Lufkin as a regional hub for health care. “We take great measures to provide the highest quality, affordable, comprehensive, evidence-based care right here at home,” says Bostwick.

And, as part of one of the largest health systems in the nation, St. Luke’s Health-Memorial benefits from ties to the St. Luke’s Health system in Houston, including CHI St. Luke’s Health-Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (Houston) which is also on the list of top 170 hospitals for coronary intervention. This affiliation enhances the organization’s ability to create a stronger health care community as well as introduce innovative technology and additional resources to the people of East Texas.