Bakersfield Heart Hospital will be presented with the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline® STEMI Receiving Center Bronze Level Recognition Award, acknowledging the hospital's commitment and success in implementing exceptional standards of care for heart attack patients.
"Bakersfield Heart Hospital is committed to improving patient outcomes and providing prompt consistent care to our heart and vascular patients," said Rasham Sandhu, Medical Director of BHH's Chest Pain Program. "Our heart, vascular and emergency medicine teams all collaborate to get patients the critical care they need quickly, which this award recognizes."
Each year in the United States, approximately 250,000 people have a STEMI, or ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, caused by a complete blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment.
Unfortunately, the majority of these patients fail to receive appropriate treatment within recommended timeframes. To prevent death, it's critical to immediately restore blood flow, either by surgically opening the blocked vessel or by giving clot-dissolving medication.
BHH earned the award by meeting specific criteria and standards of performance for the quick and appropriate treatment of STEMI patients by providing emergency procedures to re-establish blood flow to blocked arteries when needed. BHH's door-to-device time of is consistently less than the AHA indicated time of 120 minutes.
"We are pleased to recognize Bakersfield Heart Hospital for their commitment and dedication to cardiovascular care," said Ron Loomis, Senior Regional Director, Quality and Systems Improvement, American Heart Association. "Studies have shown those hospitals that consistently follow Mission: Lifeline® STEMI Receiving Center guidelines, improve the quality of care for STEMI patients."
