Seton Medical Center Austin and University Medical Center Brackenridge, both members of the Seton Family of Hospitals, are the only hospitals in Central Texas to receive the American Heart Association's (AHA's) Gold Performance Achievement Award for providing outstanding care to patients with coronary artery disease. The awards are part of the AHA's "Get With The Guidelines" program.
To earn this honor, Seton Medical Center Austin and UMC Brackenridge demonstrated for 24 consecutive months that at least 85 percent of patients with coronary artery disease -- a condition caused by thickening of the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle -- received the core standards of care recommended by the AHA and the American Stroke Association.
Under the Get With The Guidelines coronary artery disease program, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies while in the hospital, such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers, and receive smoking cessation/weight management counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before they are discharged.
"The American Heart Association applauds Seton Medical Center Austin and UMC Brackenridge for its success in implementing the appropriate evidence-based care and protocols to reduce the number of recurrent events and deaths in cardiovascular disease patients," said Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center. "Seton has achieved a high level of performance by successfully implementing these life-prolonging treatments."
"At Seton, our greatest reward is providing the very best in care that ultimately enriches and extends lives," said Jesus Garza, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Seton Family of Hospitals. "Within our network, patients have access to the only heart transplant program and Level II Trauma Center in the region, two Certified Primary Stroke Centers and a Chest Pain Center. As affirmed through this award, our patients can also rely on a higher standard of cardiac care that effectively improves treatment of coronary artery disease."
According to the American Heart Association, approximately 565,000 people suffer a new heart attack and 300,000 experience a recurrent heart attack each year. Statistics also show that within one year of a heart attack, 18 percent of men and 23 percent of women will die. The Get With The Guidelines program helps reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks and deaths in treated patients.
Seton Medical Center Austin and UMC Brackenridge will be recognized in the July 2008 U.S. News & World Report "Best Hospitals" issue.
Seton is proud to have four hospitals – the only hospitals in Central Texas - that have earned the