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Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2011
Contact: Richard Ardery
Vice President, Marketing and Community Relations
(301) 877-5700
Southern Maryland Hospital Earns Accolade from American College of Cardiology Foundation
CLINTON, MD – Southern Maryland Hospital has received the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2011 – one of only 94 hospitals nationwide to do so. The award recognizes the hospital's Heart and Vascular Center for its commitment to implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. The award also signifies that Southern Maryland Hospital has met the stringent goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
The expert physicians, nurses, and staff of The Heart and Vascular Center provide state-of-the-art treatment for cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, close to home. By focusing on highly coordinated and efficient emergency cardiac care, our cardiac team works seamlessly with the hospital’s emergency department and local EMS to fast-track patients who are having heart attack symptoms. Heart attack patients can receive emergency coronary angioplasty within minutes once they arrive at the Heart and Vascular Center, opening blockages and restoring blood flow to the heart muscle. Earlier this year, the hospital's robust cardiac program was designated a Cardiac Interventional Center by the state's coordinating agency for emergency medical services – the only hospital in Southern Maryland to earn this designation. It is also an accredited Chest Pain Center.
“The American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association commend Southern Maryland Hospital for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols. The full implementation of acute and secondary prevention guideline-recommended therapy is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients,” said Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, FACC, FAHA, ACTION Registry-GWTG Steering Committee Chair and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center and James Jollis, MD, FACC, ACTION Registry-GWTG Co-Chair and Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Duke University Hospital.
ACTION Registry–GWTG's goal is to empower health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and to establish a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety, and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease.
Founded in 1977, Southern Maryland Hospital is a 358-bed full service hospital serving the Washington, D.C., metro and southern Maryland areas. Additionally, the hospital operates a state-of-the-art twenty-four bed subacute unit. Throughout Southern Maryland Hospital’s history, it has remained a community leader, a strong supporter of health care education, and a dedicated advocate for quality health care services.
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