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Asante’s heart care still among the best in the nation

ARRMC’s regional STEMI program again earned top honors for its coordinated and timely heart attack response and treatment.
cath lab
ARRMC’s cath lab. 2019 file photo.

Despite the pressures of the pandemic, Asante’s heart care remains among the best in the nation. For the seventh year in a row, Asante Rogue Regional has earned a 2022 Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus STEMI Receiving award, the American Heart Association’s top honor for excellence in treating the most severe form of heart attacks.

The award recognizes institutions that achieve the highest performance in treating ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The hospital was also awarded the Mission: Lifeline Gold NSTEMI honor, which honors hospitals for treatment of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

A “plus” award is given to receiving center hospitals that provide definitive treatment in less than two hours for at least 75% of their STEMI patients who are transferred from referral center hospitals.

The STEMI program features a regional heart attack response team that oversees the simultaneous activation of paramedics, emergency departments and Asante’s cardiac catheterization laboratory for rapid identification and treatment of severe heart attacks throughout Southern Oregon and Northern California.

The program has received ongoing national recognition for its dramatic reduction in death rates from heart attacks. The STEMI program’s cardiologists have published several articles regarding our STEMI program, which has served as a model for the development of other STEMI programs around the country.

This program allows Asante’s staff to be ready to provide lifesaving care the moment the patient arrives at the hospital. We have cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons on call and immediately available to help coordinate care. This innovative program is credited with lowering the rate of heart attack deaths in Southern Oregon to well below the national average.

“This award reflects the combined expertise of the entire State of Jefferson STEMI program and its ability to deliver lifesaving care across the tenuous and fragile continuum of care for our sickest cardiac patients,” cardiologists Brian Gross, MD, and Kent Dauterman, MD, said in a statement. “We want to thank all the EMS units and first responders, as well as our referring ERs, cath lab, CCU, Heart Center and Cardiac Rehab units for their outstanding collaboration, and who share mightily in this award.”

A STEMI heart attack is recognized by the characteristic elevation it triggers in what is called the “ST segment” of an electrocardiogram. In a STEMI heart attack, a coronary artery is completely blocked by a blood clot and most if not all of the heart muscle being supplied by the artery begins to die. An NSTEMI is a type of heart attack that occurs when the heart does not get enough oxygen, although it does not cause any change to the heart’s electrical activity.

The American Heart Association’s “Mission: Lifeline” program establishes STEMI systems based on geographic areas. Asante Rogue Regional serves as the receiving center for the “State of Jefferson” STEMI program, which was one of the first in the country. It covers more than 5,000 square miles of Southern Oregon and Northern California. In contrast, many STEMI programs in the United States cover fewer than 50 square miles.

Tags: arrmc, Gold Plus, heart attack, Mission:Lifeline, NSTEMI, STEMI
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2 Comments. Leave new

  • Brian Gross
    June 21, 2022 1:08 pm

    In addition to all of the mentioned collaborators like EMS, Cath Lab, ERs, CCU and Heart Ward staff, I would also personally like to give a loud shout out and attribution to our successful STEMI program to the outstanding coordinating efforts by Dan Moore, RN …our STEMI nurse. He is third rail of our STEMI system and always keeps it focused and on track.
    Dr Brian Gross

    Reply
  • Michael Gross
    June 27, 2022 2:16 pm

    Congratulations Asante!

    Reply

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