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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lafayette General Medical Center-Lafayette, LA
Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation

Lafayette, LA – October 15, 2004 - The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to Lafayette General Medical Center-Lafayette, LA, making it the 1st accredited Chest Pain Center in Louisiana and the 66th in the nation.

“As a leading provider of cardiovascular care in Acadiana and Louisiana, we not only meet but exceed the tough criteria for this accreditation,” said Karen Wyble, AVP of Nursing at Lafayette General. “The thorough, on-site review team found our Center to be expert in assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients with chest pain quickly and effectively. Our staff is specially trained to SCPC standards. In addition, we work to educate the public about cardiovascular disease, and the importance of early medical treatment for heart attack symptoms.”

Dr. Scott Polsky, medical director of LGMC’s emergency department, added, “Our ER works as a seamless team with the cardiology unit and the catheterization lab, located seconds away from the emergency room. We understand that during a heart attack, those seconds are critical. With new technology that uses a rapid-response blood test to help diagnose a heart attack, we can provide immediate and appropriate care.”

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 Lafayette General Medical Center 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 Lafayette General Medical Center
As the largest, full-service, acute-care medical center in the nine parishes of Acadiana, Lafayette General Medical Center takes to heart its mission of improving, maintaining and restoring the health of people in the communities we serve. LGMC is a community-owned hospital, so as such all profits are reinvested in the hospital for purchasing unsurpassed technology, maintaining a highly trained staff and adding new and improved services. Lafayette General is a Magnet hospital for top nursing care, continuously named a Top 100 Heart Hospital, and most recently recognized in U.S. News & World Report as one of the Top 50 hospitals in the specialty of urology.

More information can be obtained at www.lafayettegeneral.com or by contacting Leslie Davis, communications specialist, at (337) 289-8606 or lbdavis@lgmc.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. 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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