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Press Release
RIVER
PARK HOSPITAL 8TH ACCREDITED CHEST PAIN CENTER IN
TENNESSEE
McMinnville,
TN –June 1, 2004. The Society of Chest Pain Centers has
granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to
River Park Hospital, making it the eighth in Tennessee and
the 36th in the nation to be accredited.
"The
entire process of expediting care for the patient was
rewarding" states Maria Ryan, Chief Nursing Officer at
River Park Hospital. Ryan
adds, "It is difficult at times to diagnose a heart
attack. The symptoms are different for women and may include
abdominal pain, jaw pain, or even back pain. Some women only
experience fatigue. Time is muscle. If you think you are
having symptoms associated with a heart attack call 911.
Upon arrival, the ambulance service will take a brief
history, give oxygen, obtain an EKG and fax it to the
emergency department, start an IV, give the patient an
aspirin and a nitroglycerin tablet. Once inside our
emergency department we are going to work quickly to
identify if you are having a heart attack and which type.
One type is identified through history and an EKG; the other
one is history and blood work. The different types are
treated differently."
Heart
attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States,
with 600,000 dying annually of heart
disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals
each year with chest pain. The goal of the Society of Chest
Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate
of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and
react to the early symptoms of a
possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes
to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and
effectiveness of treatment.
The
Chest Pain Center’s protocol driven and systematic
approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce
time to treatment during the critical early stages of a
heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to
better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they
are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure
that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly
admitted.
With
the rise of Chest Pain Centers came the need to establish
standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of
care provided to patients. The Society’s accreditation
process insures centers meet or exceed quality-of-care
measures in acute cardiac medicine.
The
Chest Pain Center at River Park
Hospital, McMinnville, Tennessee has demonstrated its
expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting
or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing
on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of
Chest Pain Centers. Key areas in which a Chest Pain Center
must demonstrate expertise include:
·
Integrating the emergency department
with the local emergency medical system
·
Assessing, diagnosing, and treating
patients quickly
·
Effectively treating patients with low
risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for
their symptoms
·
Having a functional design that
promotes optimal patient care
·
Ensuring Chest Pain Center
personnel competency and training
·
Maintaining organizational structure
and commitment
·
Continually seeking to improve
processes and procedures
·
Supporting
community outreach programs that educate the public to
promptly seek medical care if they have display symptoms of
a possible heart attack
About
River Park Hospital
HCA Tennessee is the
most comprehensive healthcare network in Middle Tennessee
and the Chattanooga-area offering more choices of hospitals
and access to affordable, quality healthcare.
Through the HCA network of hospitals in Tennessee, we
serve over 82,400 admissions and 293,000 emergency room
visits per year system-wide, and are nationally recognized
in the areas of cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, neurology
and women's health. In 2002, there were over 9,500 births, 990 cardiac surgeries,
7,400 cardiac catheterization procedures and 1,100 cancer
research protocol patients throughout the network. With over
2,200 licensed beds and a network of over 3000 physicians in
37 specialties within the state, HCA’s Tennessee hospitals
provide care for patients in both metropolitan and rural
areas. These
facilities employ more than 11,000 individual, provide
salaries exceeding $600 million, and contribute to an
investment of over $3 billion within the state of Tennessee.
For more information about the services offered and
health plans accepted by HCA Tennessee hospitals, please
call (800) 242-5662 or (931) 815-4300.
You may also visit either of our websites at
TriStarHealth.com or RiverParkHospital.com.
About the Society of Chest Pain Centers
The Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) is an international
professional society focused on improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and related maladies. The Society is committed to improving the quality of patient care through protocol-based medicine and the adoption of process improvement science to healthcare. SCPC is headquartered in Columbus , Ohio . For more information, visit www.scpcp.org .
For more information on Presbyterian Healthcare, contact Amy Philbeck, PR/Marketing Specialist at (704) 384.9798 or alphilbeck@novanthealth.org .
or more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers, please contact Robert Weisenburger Lipetz , Executive Director at (614) 442-5950 or director@scpcp.org
Society Media Contact
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