HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital receives two awards from the American Heart Association for rural heart attack care

OCONTO FALLS, Wis. — HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Coronary Artery Disease Rural Recognition Gold and Get With The Guidelines® – Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Referring Center Bronze Plus recognitions. These awards are given for the hospital’s commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to people experiencing a specific type of heart attack known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), known to be more severe and dangerous than other types of heart attacks.

Each year, more than 1 million cases of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) require hospitalization in the U.S., and about 30% of ACS cases are classified as STEMI, caused by a complete blockage in a coronary artery.  Like all heart attacks, this requires timely treatment to restore blood flow as quickly as possible.

“When someone experiences a STEMI heart attack, American Heart Association guidelines call for specific actions performed in the hospital in a consistent and timely fashion to prevent further myocardial damage and to save lives,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, co-author on the American Heart Association’s presidential advisory on rural health. “Where you live should not determine if you live, and rural communities deserve high-quality cardiac care. HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital is recognized for consistently providing these patients with the care, guidance and medical therapy they need to give them the best chance of survival.”

The Get With The Guidelines – Coronary Artery Disease Rural Recognition award is earned by hospitals that demonstrate a commitment to treating patients according to the most up-to-date research-based guidelines for STEMI care as outlined by the American Heart Association. In addition, recognition as a STEMI Referring Center is designed to showcase hospitals of every size on the front lines of care that do not have 24/7 cardiac catheterization lab availability but work in collaboration with emergency medical services to ensure patients receive guideline-directed STEMI and NSTEMI care.

“We are proud our team at St. Clare Memorial is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Oconto Falls and surrounding communities who experience heart attack and giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Colleen Koski, Chief Administrative Officer at HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital.

The Get With The Guidelines – Coronary Artery Disease Rural Recognition award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward STEMI care excellence demonstrated by composite score compliance to guideline-directed care, including timely electrocardiogram and transfer, aspirin administration, administration of thrombolytic therapy, receptor inhibitor and anticoagulant, and more.

[1] Akbar H, Foth C, Kahloon RA, Mountfort S. Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; January 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532281/.

###

About Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS)
HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls, Wis. is part of Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) a nonprofit Catholic health care ministry founded in 1875. Dedicated to our Mission to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through high-quality Franciscan health care, HSHS clinicians provide exceptional care centered on the whole person. Based in Springfield, Illinois, HSHS employs nearly 11,000 colleagues who provide care in 13 acute-care, children’s and critical access hospitals and home health and hospice programs in Central and Southern Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin. HSHS is aligned with more than 1,000 primary and specialty physicians and advanced practitioners through its owned affiliates HSHS Medical Group and Prairie Cardiovascular and its partnership with Prevea Health. For more information about HSHS, visit hshs.org.

About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 14 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.