TAMPA, Fla., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to University Community Hospital, making it the sixth facility in Florida and 48th in the nation to be accredited.
“We are honored to receive the Chest Pain Center Accreditation and are extremely proud of our cardiovascular program,” states Brigitte Shaw, Chief Operating Officer for University Community Health. “We will be opening the Pepin Heart Hospital & Research Institute in the Spring of 2005, fundamentally changing heart care delivery in the Southeastern United States. The Chest Pain Center Accreditation proves we have the program and processes in place to provide this valuable resource.”
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 University Community 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 have display symptoms of a possible heart attack About the Pepin Heart & Vascular Institute
The Pepin Heart & Vascular Institute (PHVI) is located at University Community Hospital. Established in 1989 and named after well-known Tampa philanthropist and benefactor, Art Pepin, the PHVI offers the community leading edge research and heart care treatment by some of the most experienced physicians and cardiovascular staff in Tampa Bay. PHVI looks forward to expanding its facilities in the Spring of 2005 to proudly offer the Pepin Heart Hospital & Research Institute, the most advanced, freestanding heart hospital in the southeastern United States. For more information, visit http://www.pepinheart.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. The Society is committed to improving the quality of patient care through protocol-based medicine and the adoption of process improvement science to healthcare. SCPC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, visit http://www.scpcp.org/ .
For more information on the Pepin Heart Hospital at University Community Hospital, contact Liz Nolan, Marketing Manager at (813) 615-7537 or enolan@mail.uch.org.
For more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers, please contact Robert Weisenburger Lipetz, Executive Director at (614) 274-9710 or director@scpcp.org.
Society of Chest Pain Centers
CONTACT: Liz Nolan, Marketing Manager of University Community Hospital,+1-813-615-7537, or enolan@mail.uch.org ; or Robert Weisenburger Lipetz,Executive Director of the Society of Chest Pain Centers, +1-614-274-9710, ordirector@scpcp.org
Web site: http://www.scpcp.org/