St. Joseph's Health is 8th Hospital in Nation to Receive American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Center of Excellence Accreditation

Syracuse, NY (January 14, 2019) – St. Joseph’s Health Hospital is now the 8th hospital in the nation to be awarded the American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence accreditation, a comprehensive level of designation for cardiovascular care. It recognizes hospitals committed to following proven treatment guidelines incorporated into a comprehensive system of care to fully address the needs of patients with complex cardiac conditions.




Hospitals accredited as Cardiovascular Centers of Excellence must meet or exceed standards established using multidisciplinary treatment models for all types of cardiovascular patients. These standards include 24/7 cardiovascular services, comprehensive training for all staff caring for this patient population, a strong internal and external systems of care approach to deliver services and extensive community outreach to help their population recognize and participate in cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular Centers of Excellence accredited facilities are recognized as champions in their populations’ health.




St. Joseph’s Health Hospital underwent reviews by the American Heart Association’s accreditation review team. During the reviews, cardiovascular quality improvement specialists reviewed the hospital’s policies, procedures and operations to ensure appropriate diagnosis, treatment and education protocols were in place and executed for the cardiovascular patients. The facility also had to demonstrate efforts in enhancing their community’s awareness on the importance of cardiovascular health.




Key areas in which St. Joseph’s Health Hospital demonstrated excellence in early patient and community engagement, external support and scientific, evidence-based, guidelines-driven care during critical health events when patients needed it the most.




As a result of their exemplary efforts, St. Joseph’s Health Hospital will display the official American Heart Association Cardiovascular Center of Excellence accreditation heart-check mark.




“St. Joseph's Health Hospital is thoroughly committed to providing our patients the highest quality cardiovascular care centered in current scientific research,” said Leslie Paul Luke, President and CEO at St. Joseph’s Health. “The American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence Accreditation has highlighted our accomplishments and recognizes of our commitment to continually work to improve the overall multidisciplinary treatment and care for our patients.”




Through this accreditation program, the American Heart Association hopes to significantly reduce cardiac death and disability by teaching the public to recognize and react to early symptoms of heart diseases, reduce the time it takes to receive lifesaving treatments and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment administered.




The overall goal for the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence accreditation is to improve the outcomes of patients affected by cardiovascular disease. This is accomplished by optimizing the patient and caregiver experiences through a collaborative approach to incorporate best practices founded on established evidence-based cardiovascular treatment guidelines fostered with a systems of care approach.




For more information on the American Heart Association cardiac accreditation programs, visit our websites: www.heart.org/cardiacaccreditation




About St. Joseph’s Health


St. Joseph’s Health is a regional non-profit health care system based in Syracuse, NY. Offering primary, specialty and home care, a Magnet-recognized hospital, and collaboration with community partners, St. Joseph's Health advances the well-being of the communities we serve through an expanding range of services to ensure our patients achieve optimum long-term health. St. Joseph’s is ranked by Consumer Reports among the top 15 heart surgery centers in the country, a designated Stroke Center and a U.S. News “Best Regional Hospital.” St. Joseph’s Health is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and St. Joseph’s Physicians, and is a member of Trinity Health.




About the American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence Accreditation


The Cardiovascular Center of Excellence (CVCOE) accreditation offers cardiovascular programs a model to ensure best practices and evidence–based medicine is implemented in a standardized fashion for the delivery of cohesive and consistent multidisciplinary cardiovascular care. The CVCOE Accreditation recognizes facilities with robust foundational programs in Chest Pain, Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure. CVCOE standards focus on the areas of Governance, Systems of Care and Clinical Quality. AHA works with hospitals acting as learning health systems striving to create environments where excellence is demonstrated, monitored and continually assessed for improvement. For more information about this accreditation, visit www.heart.org/cardiacaccreditation