Hospital Among Best for Heart Attack Care

Antelope Valley Medical Center received the Silver Performance Achievement Award from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry and the American College of Cardiology for its performance in caring for patients with heart attack symptoms. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to and success in implementing a higher standard of care for these patients. The hospital was one of 86 facilities nationwide to receive the honor.

To receive the Chest Pain ? MI Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award, AVMC has demonstrated sustained achievement in the area of chest pain and myocardial infarction (MI) for four consecutive quarters and has performed at the top level for specific performance measures. Hospitals participating in the registry engage in a robust quality-improvement process using data to drive enhancements in the overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

The award comes on the heels of the hospital’s chest pain center earning re-accreditation last year and cements the hospital’s role as the leading source of cardiovascular care in the Antelope Valley.
“I am proud of the team here at Antelope Valley Medical Center for their work in providing our region the most effective response, treatment, and care to patients experiencing chest pain and other heart attack symptoms,” said hospital CEO Edward Mirzabegian. “Our staff is dedicated to delivering exceptional care and consistently exceeds national standards when it comes to quickly diagnosing and treating heart-related conditions.”

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 people dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain.
An accredited Chest Pain Center’s evidence-based, protocol-driven and systematic approach to cardiac patient care allows clinicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack. Accredited facilities better monitor patients when it is not initially clear whether or not a patient is having a coronary event. Such monitoring ensures patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

In addition to being a certified Chest Pain Center, AVMC is a STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) Receiving Center, which means it has the training, equipment and processes in place to immediately treat patients experiencing an acute cardiac myocardial infarction (heart attack). In 2015 the hospital also became the Antelope Valley’s first Advanced Primary Stroke Center, which signifies that the hospital has the equipment, infrastructure, staff, and training programs needed to provide care based on the most current research and standards to foster better outcomes for patients who have had a stroke.