CHI St. Vincent Infirmary is one of only 240 hospitals nationwide to receive the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2022. The award recognizes CHI St. Vincent Infirmary’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that the healing ministry has reached an aggressive goal of treating patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

“Our cardiologists, surgeons and entire healthcare team are consistently raising the bar for what Arkansans can expect from quality heart care right here close to home,” said CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute President Marcia Atkinson. “This repeated recognition and honor from the American College of Cardiology shows that we’re not only meeting standards, but exceeding them year after year.”

To receive the Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, the Infirmary demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain  ̶   MI Registry for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

“It is an honor to award CHI St. Vincent Infirmary with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that CHI St. Vincent remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.

CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock was also named the best hospital in Arkansas for cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report in the publication’s Best Regional Hospital rankings for 2021–22. Cardiovascular surgeons with the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute at the Infirmary in Little Rock have also earned two distinguished three-star ratings for patient care and outcomes from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the highest quality rating that organization bestows. For more information about the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute, visit: www.chistvincent.com/heart