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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Elizabeth’s
Hospital – Belleville, IL
Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation
Belleville, IL – November 15, 2004.
The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted the designation
of Accredited Chest Pain Center to St. Elizabeth’s
Hospital in Belleville, IL. St. Elizabeth’s is the
first hospital in the St. Louis metropolitan area to receive
this accreditation; it is the third accredited Chest Pain
Center in Illinois and 70th in the nation.
“This reflects the commitment of our physicians
and staff to meet the highest standards for the safe and
effective
treatment of patients with heart disease and its symptoms,” states
Tim Brady, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital administrator. “Being
first in the St. Louis metropolitan area to achieve this
national accreditation helps identify St. Elizabeth’s
as a leader in cardiac care throughout the region. This
is a great example of the high level of care and competence
our staff demonstrates in serving our patients.”
“The Chest Pain Center Accreditation is a great
accomplishment for our hospital. St. Elizabeth’s Hospital’s
Chest Pain Team is dedicated to continuously re-evaluating
the way we treat chest pain and heart attack patients in
order to give the best possible patient outcomes,” says
Sue Beeler, manager diagnostic and interventional cardiology. “While
it is a great honor to achieve recognition from the Society
of Chest Pain Centers, it is important for the public to
understand that care, safe treatment and positive results
for our patients is our primary goal. We compare our patient
outcomes to those of other nationally recognized institutions
and we consistently meet or exceed those standards.”
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 ensures centers meet or exceed quality-of-care
measures in acute cardiac medicine.
The Chest Pain Center at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
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 display symptoms
of a possible heart attack
About St. Elizabeth’s
Hospital
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is a 270-bed acute
care medical facility with cardiac services that include
cardiac diagnostics, Cardiac Catheterization/EP Lab, coronary
artery bypass grafting, cardiac rehabilitation, a 60-bed
telemetry unit, cardiovascular critical care unit and a heart
failure support group. St. Elizabeth’s also maintains
a Gold Seal of approval from the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Facilities (JCAHO), is certified by the Commission
on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), is
accredited by the Inter-societal Commission for the Accreditation
of Vascular Labs, Committee on Laboratory Accreditations
(COLA), and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
For more information please contact Craig Steiner, Director
of Marketing, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital at 618-234-2120
ext. 1357 or email at csteiner@sebh.org.
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. Established
in 1998, the Society is dedicated to patient advocacy and
focusing on ischemic heart disease. Central to its mission
is the question, “What is right for the patient?” In
answer, the Society promotes protocol-based medicine, often
delivered through a Chest Pain Center model to address
the diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes,
heart
failure, and to promote the adoption of process improvement
science by healthcare providers. SCPC is headquartered
in Columbus, Ohio.
For more information on the Society of Chest
Pain Centers visit www.scpcp.org,
or contact Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director
at (614) 442-5950 or director@scpcp.org.
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