Baptist Health Hospitals Receive Chest Pain Center Accreditation

Jacksonville, Florida, July 21, 2008 -- The Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) has granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to all four adult Baptist Health hospitals: Baptist Medical Center Downtown, Baptist Medical Center Beaches, Baptist Medical Center Nassau and Baptist Medical Center South.

Baptist Downtown, which includes Baptist Heart Hospital, is further accredited in percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), which include stent procedures and balloon angioplasty. The hospitals are among only 1,500 accredited Chest Pain Centers nationwide.

About Chest Pain Centers

A Chest Pain Center is a hospital emergency center accredited by the SCPC that offers fast, evidence-based diagnosis and treatment for chest pain and heart attacks, provided by a highly skilled team with advanced knowledge in the management of heart attacks.

A national study by Emory University has shown that hospitals accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers achieve better patient outcomes as compared to non-accredited hospitals. That means that being treated at an accredited Chest Pain Center can mean the difference between life and death for a patient experiencing a heart attack.

Areas in which an accredited Chest Pain Center must demonstrate expertise include:

Integrating the emergency departments with the local Emergency Medical System (EMS)

Assessing, diagnosing and treating patients quickly

Educating the community to promptly seek medical care for heart attack symptoms

Time is Muscle

The longer the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen, the more damage there is to the heart. "The key is for people to call 9-1-1 as soon as they experience heart attack warning signs. Unfortunately, about a third of those with heart disease never make it to the hospital -- they make the mistake of waiting too long," says Richard Stromberg, MD, chief of Emergency Medicine at Baptist Medical Center Downtown.

The Chest Pain Center protocol calls for treating a heart attack within 70 minutes and performing a cardiac catheterization within 90 minutes of arrival in the emergency department. "We are more than 90 percent successful at stopping a heart attack at Baptist, which is a remarkable achievement," adds Dr. Stromberg.

A Coordinated System

The significance of all four Baptist Health hospitals achieving Chest Pain Center accreditation is that more of the community will have live-saving care close at hand. Each hospital has worked extensively with the local emergency medical system to establish a coordinated system of communication and rapid transportation protocols so patients receive the care they need quickly.

"Our system of coordination meets national standards for advanced cardiac care," says Kathy Murray, vice president of Patient Care Services at Baptist Medical Center Downtown. "We were commended by SCPC surveyors for our extraordinary relationship with Emergency Medical Services, the Life Flight emergency helicopter service, and for establishing a dedicated chest pain referral coordinator, who is on call 24/7."

If the highest level of interventional care is needed, such as a balloon angioplasty, stent placement or coronary artery bypass graft surgery, patients can be quickly transported to Baptist Medical Center Downtown for cardiac catheterization. "When patients present with heart attack symptoms that may be atypical or subtle, a cardiac catheterization can save their lives," says Joel Schrank, MD, medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratories at Baptist Heart Hospital.

A New Level of Care

"The positive impact of this achievement to our community is tremendous," says Hugh Greene, president and CEO of Baptist Health. "We thank our Emergency Center physicians, nurses and staff, cardiologists, and Life Flight and EMS team members for working so closely together in integrating processes and expediting care for people with chest pain. Through collaboration, we can save many more lives."