University Hospital recognized for providing high standard of care for heart attack patients

University of Missouri Health Care's University Hospital has received the American College of Cardiology's ACTION Registry-Get with the Guidelines (GWTG) Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2015. University Hospital is one of only 91 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor for high performance in caring for heart attack patients. The Silver Performance Achievement Award recognizes hospitals that have sustained performance measure score composites of 90 percent or better in the treatment of heart attack over a 12-month period.

"We are very proud to be recognized for our commitment to providing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients," said William Fay, MD, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, professor of medicine and medical pharmacology and physiology and the J.W. & Lois Winifred Stafford Distinguished Chair in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. "It reflects the hard work and dedication of our staff and physicians who care for some of our most seriously ill patients."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 700,000 Americans suffer heart attacks each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Some of the treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking-cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation.