Dominical Hospital Receives American Heart Association Gold Plus Award for Heart Failure Care
“This award demonstrates our dedication to ensuring heart failure patients receive care based on internationally-respected clinical guidelines developed using the latest scientific research,” said Dominican Hospital President Nanette Mickiewicz, MD. “Our adherence to the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation’s guidelines is just one of the measures we take to continually maintain the hospital’s high standards for cardiac care.”
Dominican Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients. These measures include evaluation of the patient, proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies, such as ACE inhibitors/ARBs, beta-blockers, diuretics, anticoagulants, and other appropriate therapies. Before patients are discharged, they also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
The Dominican Hospital heart and vascular program has received several accolades this year, including recognition from Healthgrades as one of American’s 100 best hospitals for coronary intervention and among the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for cardiac surgery, and designation as a Blue Shield Blue Distinction Specialty Care Center for Quality in Cardiac Care.
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million adults in the United States suffer from heart failure, with the number expected to rise to eight million by 2030. Statistics show that each year about 870,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 50 percent of those diagnosed will die within five years. However, many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications or devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.
About Dominican Hospital
Dignity Health Dominican Hospital has been caring for the Santa Cruz County community for more than 70 years. Dominican offers emergency services and is a Certified Stroke Center and Chest Pain Center.
Dominican’s services include the only comprehensive Cancer Center in Santa Cruz County, a Total Joint Replacement program, advanced neurological and endoscopic services, and an expert heart and vascular team treating some of the most complex cardiac cases in the Monterey Bay area. Dominican regularly receives ‘A’ grades for hospital safety from Leapfrog Group, and has received national recognition for superior patient safety, cardiac care, and stroke treatment from Healthgrades, a leading provider of comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. Dominican also has received several awards for environmental excellence.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospitalbased quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
Publish date:
Friday, July 15, 2016