St. Francis Hospital has received Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the American College of Cardiology. The ACC is a professional organization focused on transforming cardiovascular care by assisting facilities in their effort to create communities of excellence that bring together quality, cost and patient satisfaction.
 
Hospitals that have received ACC accreditation have achieved a higher level of expertise in dealing with patients who arrive with symptoms of a heart attack. They emphasize the importance of standardized diagnostic and treatment programs that provide more efficient and effective evaluation as well as more appropriate and rapid treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack symptoms. They also serve as a point of entry into the healthcare system to evaluate and treat other medical problems, and they help to promote a healthier lifestyle in an attempt to reduce the risk factors for heart attack.
 
To become an Accredited Chest Pain Center, St. Francis Hospital engaged in rigorous evaluation by ACC for its ability to assess, diagnose and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. To the Chattahoochee Valley region, this means that processes are in place that meet strict criteria aimed at:
 
Reducing the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment

Treating patients more quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart muscle can be preserved

Monitoring patients when it is not certain that they are having a heart attack to ensure that they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital
 
“Earning Chest Pain Center accreditation is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our clinical team, our community partners and the ACC, who have been working collaboratively to ensure our hospital is prepared to provide high quality care to patients when heart attacks strike,” said Dan Jones, St. Francis Hospital CEO. “St. Francis Hospital’s top priority is to provide quality healthcare close to home, and this accomplishment demonstrates one of the many ways we continually work to enhance and improve our service.”
 
St. Francis addresses the entire continuum of care for the heart patient, including important areas such as dispatch, Emergency Medical System, emergency department, cath lab, quality assurance plan, and the hospitals community outreach program. By becoming an Accredited Chest Pain Center, St. Francis has enhanced the quality of care for the cardiac patient and has demonstrated its commitment to higher standards.
 
Part of LifePoint Health, St. Francis is one of 34 LifePoint facilities to earn chest pain accreditation since 2016 demonstrating the company-wide commitment to enhancing quality and ensuring excellent service and care in the emergency department. The partnership between LifePoint Health and ACC for collaborative training and hospital accreditation demonstrates the organizations’ common focus on high quality medical care for patients.
 
“People tend to wait when they think they might be having a heart attack, and that’s a mistake,” said Dr. Bobbi Farber, St. Francis Hospitals Chief Medical Officer. “The average patient arrives in the emergency department more than two hours after the onset of symptoms, but what they don’t realize is that the sooner a heart attack is treated, the less damage to the heart and the better the outcome for the patient. With our new accreditation, we hope to bring greater awareness to the importance of timely care and help even more people in our region.”