People who live in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than urban counterparts and have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease. Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital in Penn Yan is committed to changing that.
For efforts to optimize acute cardiac care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Rural Recognition Bronze award for suspected non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS).
The American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, recognizes the importance of healthcare services provided to people living in rural areas by rural hospitals that play a vital role in initiation of timely evidence-based care. For that reason, all rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines® – CAD are eligible to receive award recognition based on a unique methodology focused on NSTE-ACS and/or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) performance metrics
“We are proud that our team at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Yates County who are affected by coronary artery disease, giving them the best chance of survival and the best possible quality of life,” said Matthew Talbott, MD, MBA, FACEP, UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health’s Associate Chief Medical Officer, Director of Emergency Medicine and Medical Director, Chest Pain Center. “As a hospital in a rural community, we deal with characteristics, such as extended distances from receiving hospitals with interventional cardiology services, interfacility transportation and bed availability. We’ve made it a goal to make sure those hurdles do not affect the standard of care our patients receive.
“Residents in rural communities deserve high-quality emergency cardiac care. I’m proud of our team for their commitment to heart care excellence and this achievement.”
This award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward NSTE-ACS care excellence. This is demonstrated by composite score compliance to seven guideline-directed care metrics for suspected NSTE-ACS: early electrocardiogram; early cardiac troponin laboratory testing; risk stratification; cardiac testing; anticoagulant administration; timely ED throughput and appropriate follow-up and/or transfer for advanced cardiological care.
“Patients and health care professionals in Yates County face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, co-author on “Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association” and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”
