Uniontown Hospital Wins Emergency Cardiac Care Award

Uniontown Hospital is proud to announce it has received recognition from the American Heart Association (AHA) for rapid and quality care provided to patients suffering severe heart attacks.

The Mission Lifeline Receiving Center Award was created by AHA to help ensure prompt, evidence-based care for the life threatening type of heart attack known as STEMI, ST Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction. 
Each year in the United States, approximately 300,000 people suffer a STEMI as the result of a total blockage of blood flow to the heart.

Without immediate intervention such a cardiac event is typically fatal and it becomes critical to rapidly restore blood flow to the patient’s heart with the use of clot-busting medication or through surgical procedures.

“When a patient is suffering this type of an event, time is so important,”

said Sandy Thorpe, Executive Director of Critical Care Services and Patient Flow at Uniontown Hospital.

“Every second counts and we are working every single day to ensure that our heart attack patients are given prompt and exceptional care. The cardiac team is such a blessing to our community and our hospital. They truly are life savers.”  

According to the AHA, the Mission Lifeline program helps hospitals, emergency medical services and communities improve response times so people who suffer a STEMI get prompt, appropriate treatment.

The program’s goal is to streamline systems of care to quickly get heart attack patients from their initial emergency phone call to hospital treatment. 

“We commend Uniontown Hospital for this achievement award, which reflects a significant institutional commitment to improve the quality of care for their heart attack patients,”

said Dr. A. Gray Ellrodt, Chair of the Mission Lifeline committee and Chief of Medicine at the Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass.

“All too many heart attack patients in the United States still fail to receive appropriate treatment for their life-threatening condition within the recommended timeframes. We must all continue this important work to streamline and coordinate regional systems of care to save lives and prevent complications.” 

Uniontown Hospital was able to earn the award by meeting various performance standards in STEMI cases, including rapid and appropriate treatment of blocked arteries and other post emergency therapies and drug regimens. Eligible hospitals must adhere to these measures at a set level for a designated period to receive the awards, according to the AHA. 

The award also includes mention at the AHA Scientific Sessions Conference in November in Chicago, Ill., and inclusion in an AHA recognition advertisement in US News and World Report.   

Uniontown Hospital CEO Steve Handy said that the award is yet another testament to the quality of care and the quality of people at Uniontown Hospital.

“We are dedicated to making a healthy difference in our community and that certainly includes how we respond in those crucial minutes of a heart attack,”

Handy said.

“The Mission Lifeline Award further validates what we as a hospital already know. Our team provides excellent service and care and works tirelessly to do so. It isn’t just a motto or mantra. It is simply what we do. We make a healthy difference.”