HIALEAH, FL -- Hialeah Hospital recently received the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines--Coronary Artery Disease (GWTG--CAD) Bronze Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Hialeah Hospital's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of cardiac care that effectively improves treatment of patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease.
According to the GWTG--CAD treatment guidelines, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation/weight management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before they are discharged.
Hospitals that receive the GWTG-CAD Bronze Performance Achievement Award have demonstrated for at least 90 days that 85 percent of its eligible coronary patients (without contraindications) are discharged following the American Heart Association's recommended treatment guidelines.
"The American Heart Association applauds Hialeah Hospital 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, M.D., National Chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center. "Hialeah Hospital has achieved a high level of performance in terms of implementing these life-prolonging treatments."
"Hialeah Hospital is dedicated to making our cardiac unit among the best in the country, and the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines program is helping us accomplish that by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcomes of our cardiac patients," said Ralph Aleman, CEO with Hialeah Hospital "We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care."
The American Heart Association's GWTG--CAD program helps hospitals increase the use of and adherence to the association's secondary prevention guidelines for coronary artery disease.
Developed to assist healthcare professionals follow proven standards and procedures before patients are discharged, GWTG--CAD can help Hialeah Hospital reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks and death in treated patients.
The program, which works by mobilizing teams in acute care hospitals to implement American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines, was developed with support from an unrestricted educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc.
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. Within five years after an attack, about 33 percent of men and 43 percent of women will die. The American Heart Association's GWTG program is being implemented in hospitals around the country.
About Hialeah Hospital
Hialeah Hospital, part of Tenet's Florida region, is a 378-bed acute care hospital located at 651 East 25th Street in Hialeah. The hospital has been serving the medical and health care needs of central to north Miami-Dade County since 1951.
Hialeah Hospital offers a broad range of health care services, including 24-hour emergency care, cardiology, neurosurgery, obstetrics, a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, laboratory, a surgical weight loss program that has been esignated a Center of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, a sleep disorders program, and a complement of imaging services.
Hialeah Hospital has earned a five-star rating and is ranked among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation for maternity care by HealthGrades, a health care quality ratings company.
Hialeah Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation's oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.