Northside Hospital Continues Quality Heart Care Services

From Northside Hospital: When someone is having a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event every second matters – from the moment 911 is called, to when first responders arrive, how long it takes to get to the hospital to how long before emergency treatment is administered.

In Cherokee County, patients transported to the emergency department at Northside Hospital Cherokee have received life-saving care in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization laboratory faster than most other hospitals in the Atlanta Region.

“Our team of board-certified cardiologists, cardiac-trained nurses and technologists works collaboratively with Cherokee County Emergency Management to help patients get the right care they need as quickly as possible,” said Angela Edgar, RN, MS, CCRN-CMC, RCIS, manager of cardiology services at Northside Hospital Cherokee.

In 2017, Northside Hospital Cherokee was again recognized for providing high-quality cardiovascular and stroke care with several prestigious national health organization awards:

• The American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award for heart attack care. Northside Hospital Cherokee is one of only 30 hospitals nationwide to receive this honor.
• The American Heart Association (AHA) Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Gold Level Recognition Award.
• The AHA Get With The Guidelines® (GWTG) Gold Plus Achievement Award for heart failure.
• The AHA GWTG Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite.
• The AHA GWTG Gold Quality Achievement Award for Resuscitation. Northside is one of just five hospitals in Georgia and two in Metro Atlanta (the other is Northside Hospital Forsyth) to receive this award.

Northside Hospital Cherokee has the expertise, equipment, facilities and other resources needed to diagnose and treat heart attacks, coronary artery blockages, congenital heart defects, heart failure, stroke and other cardiovascular problems. The hospital offers the full cycle of cardiac care including PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) for STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction) and cardiac rehabilitation.

“We consistently look for ways to improve the quality of care that we provide, speed recovery and reduce hospital readmissions for our patients,” said Edgar.

When the new Northside Hospital Cherokee was built, special attention was paid to how patients would be transported between the emergency department and cath lab and how each department would be designed to prevent barriers to care.

“Since the new hospital opened, we’ve seen a 30 percent increase in patients, yet our treatment times continue to be below the national average,” said Edgar. “I’m very proud of our team and all of the hard work that we are doing. Being honored for giving excellent patient care is the best recognition a hospital can receive.”

For more information about heart and vascular services at Northside Hospital Cherokee, visit northside.com/heartandvascular.

Images Courtesy of Northside Hospital