SPRINGFIELD, IL – St. John’s Prairie Heart Institute recently received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Gold Performance Achievement Award for the fourth straight year. The award recognizes St. John’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients that effectively improves the survival and care of STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) patients. St. John’s is the only hospital south of I80 to receive the gold award, and one of two hospitals in Illinois to be recognized. Every year, almost 250,000 people experience the STEMI type of heart attack – the deadliest type. Unfortunately, a significant number don't receive prompt reperfusion therapy, which is critical in restoring blood flow. Mission: Lifeline seeks to save lives by closing the gaps that separate STEMI patients from timely access to appropriate treatments. Mission: Lifeline is focusing on improving the system of care for these patients and at the same time improving care for all heart attack patients. Hospitals involved in Mission: Lifeline strive to improve care in both acute treatment measures and discharge measures. Systems of care are developed that close the gap of timely access to appropriate, life-saving treatments. Before they are discharged, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation counseling.
To earn the Mission: Lifeline Gold Performance Achievement Award, hospitals must demonstrate for 24 consecutive months that at least 85 percent of eligible STEMI patients (without contraindications) are treated within specific time frames upon entering the hospital and discharged following the American Heart Association’s recommended treatment guidelines. “St. John’s Hospital is dedicated to making Prairie Heart Institute among the best cardiac care units in the country, and the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program is helping us accomplish that by making it easier for our professionals to improve the outcomes of our cardiac patients,” said Charles L. Lucore, M.D., M.B.A., President and CEO of St. John’s Hospital. “We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care.”
