St. Elizabeth’s receives award for treating heart attack patients

St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville has received an award from the American College of Cardiology in recognition of the hospital’s cardiology department colleagues’ and physicians’ commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients.

St. Elizabeth’s is one of only 319 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor — the American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2015.

The award signifies the hospital has reached a goal of treating heart attack patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

To receive the award, St. Elizabeth’s consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the ACTION Registry–GWTG Premier for eight consecutive quarters and met a performance standard of 90 percent for specific performance measures.

“This award is a proud achievement for our entire cardiac team. It reflects the hard work and dedication of the colleagues and physicians who care for some of our most seriously ill patients and their families,” said Bonnie Schnieder, director of heart and vascular services at St. Elizabeth’s. “The implementation of these guidelines requires successful coordination of the cardiovascular team and emergency personnel and is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 3:53 PM with the headline "St. Elizabeth’s receives award for treating heart attack patients."