Northside Hospital Cherokee Recognized for Heart Attack Care

From Northside Hospital Healthcare System:

Northside Hospital Cherokee has earned Disease Specific Certification for Acute Myocardial Infarction care from The Joint Commission.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the medical term for a heart attack. About 750,000 people in the U.S. have a heart attack each year, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

“Time is critical in heart attack care,” said Dr. Gordon Azar, interventional cardiologist with Northside Heart. “From the moment 911 is called, to when first responders arrive, how long it takes to get to the hospital and how long before treatment is administered – every minute matters.”

Northside Hospital Cherokee offers a wide range of diagnostic, treatment and support services for heart and vascular patients including PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) for STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction). A team of board-certified cardiologists, cardiac-trained nurses and technologists at Northside has the highest level of expertise in diagnosing and treating disorders like heart attacks, coronary artery blockages, congenital heart defects, heart failure and stroke, and helps patients get the right care they need as quickly as possible.

“Patients in Cherokee, who have a heart attack and call 911, are transported to the Emergency Department at Northside Hospital Cherokee and receive life-saving care in our Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, all in less than 65 minutes,” said Beverly Hunt, chief nursing officer. Northside Hospital Cherokee is the second fastest hospital (out of 19 hospitals) in the Metro Atlanta Region. The average length of time among all hospitals is 76 minutes.

The Joint Commission’s Certification is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care. Northside Hospital Cherokee received its two-year certification after undergoing a voluntary and rigorous on-site evaluation, demonstrating compliance with nationally developed standards for heart attack care.

Earlier in 2016, Northside Hospital Cherokee also was recognized for providing high quality cardiovascular care through the AHA Mission: Lifeline and Get With The Guidelines® (GWTG) programs. The hospital received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Gold Performance Achievement Award, along with additional awards for heart attack, heart failure, resuscitation and stroke.

“Our cardiology team and our emergency department staff work collaboratively with Cherokee County EMS to raise the level of care that our patients receive, and we are very proud of all that they have done,” said Angela Edgar, manager of cardiology at Northside Hospital Cherokee.”

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About Northside Hospital

The Northside Hospital health care system is an 852-bed, not-for-profit health care provider with more than 150 locations across Georgia, including three acute care, state-of-the-art hospitals in Atlanta, Cherokee County and Forsyth County. Northside Hospital leads the U.S. in newborn deliveries, diagnoses and treats the most cancer cases in Georgia and performs the most robotic surgeries in Georgia. The only Georgia hospital on the Forbeslist of America’s Best Employers, Northside has more than 2,500 physicians and 14,200 employees who serve nearly 2 million patient visits annually across a full range of medical services.

Images via Northside Hospital Healthcare System