St. Elizabeth Youngstown Honored for Quality of Care for Heart Patients

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — St. Elizabeth Mercy Health Hospital earned national recognition for heart failure quality of care achievement from the American Heart Association.

With about 6.2 million adults living in the U.S. with heart failure, the Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure quality achievement award honors hospitals dedicated to a commitment to improving outcomes for these patients. While a heart failure patient’s heart has not stopped working, the heart is having a hard time pumping blood and oxygen throughout the body.

Quality of life can be improved by working with a healthcare team using the most up-to-date guidelines and creating a plan that includes medication, symptom monitoring and lifestyle changes.

“St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital is committed to improving patient care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines,” said Dr. Rahul Sinha, cardiologist and medical director of Mercy Health – Youngstown’s congestive heart failure clinics.

“Get With The Guidelines makes it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, which studies show can help patients recover better. The end goal is to ensure more people in the Mahoning Valley can experience longer, healthier lives.”

The Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure program honors organizations committed to providing quality care to heart failure patients and educates patients so they can manage their heart failure at home.

Clyde W. Yancy, the national chairperson of the American Heart Association Heart Failure systems of care advisory group and chief of the division of cardiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said the hospitals participating in the guidelines often see better patient outcomes with fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates. He adds that is “a win for health care systems, families and communities.”

St. Elizabeth Youngstown has received two other recent recognitions from the American Heart Association. One is the Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll and the other is the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

Those on the heart failure honor roll are hospitals meeting specific criteria to improve medication adherence, provide early follow-up care and coordination, as well as enhance patient education.

The Type 2 diabetes program honors hospitals similarly improving the lives of patients with complications from the disease, who are hospitalized due to heart disease or stroke.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.