Holzer Health System Awarded for Rural Heart Attack Care
The American Heart Association presents the Get With The Guidelines® - Coronary Artery Disease Rural Recognition Bronze award for implementation of quality treatment, care coordination for heart attack patients. 
Holzer Health System has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Coronary Artery Disease Rural Recognition Bronze Award for its commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to people experiencing a specific type of heart attack known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), which is typically more severe than other types of heart attacks.
Each year, about 285,000 people in the U.S. experience this type of heart attack, caused by a complete blockage in a coronary artery. Nearly 40 percent of people who go to the emergency room with acute coronary syndrome are diagnosed with a STEMI. Like all heart attacks, this requires timely treatment to restore blood flow as quickly as possible.
“When someone experiences a STEMI heart attack, American Heart Association guidelines call for specific actions performed in the hospital in a consistent and timely fashion to prevent further myocardial damage and to save lives,” said Stephen Sigal, M.D., MS, FAHA, FACC, American Heart Association volunteer and Medical Director of Interventional Cardiology at Titus Regional Medical Center. “Where you live should not determine if you live, and rural communities deserve high-quality cardiac care. Holzer Health System is recognized for consistently providing these patients with the care, guidance, and medical therapy they need to give them the best chance of survival.”
The Get With The Guidelines – Coronary Artery Disease Rural Recognition award is earned by hospitals that demonstrate a commitment to treating patients according to the most up-to-date research-based guidelines for STEMI care as outlined by the American Heart Association.
“We are proud that our team at Holzer is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Appalachia who experience heart attacks, providing the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said David Fields, APRN, CNP, Director of Holzer Cardiopulmonary Services. “As a hospital in a rural community, we deal with characteristics, such as extended interfacility transportation times, and limited staffing resources. We've made it a goal to make sure those hurdles do not affect the standard of care our patients receive.”
The award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward STEMI care excellence demonstrated by composite score compliance to guideline-directed care, including timely electrocardiogram and transfer, aspirin administration, administration of thrombolytic therapy, receptor inhibitor and anticoagulant, and more.
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About Holzer Health System
Holzer is a not-for-profit multi-disciplinary regional health system with locations throughout southeastern Ohio and western West Virginia. The system includes two hospital locations, multiple clinical locations, long-term care entities, and more than 180 providers in more than 30 medical specialties.
Holzer Cardiovascular Services has assembled a staff of the region’s most qualified team of cardiac physicians, nurses, and other clinical staff. Using the most technologically advanced cardiac equipment and procedures, our team is devoted to delivering you the very best in cardiac care. Through inpatient and outpatient treatments including medical management, cardiac catheterizations, surgical treatment, we offer diagnostic cardiac catheterizations as well as cardiac angioplasties/stents. For more information, visit www.holzer.org.
About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 14 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
