South Bay Hospital Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation

Sun City Center, Florida - - (February 22, 2010) -  South Bay Hospital has received Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. As an Accredited Chest Pain Center, South Bay Hospital ensures that patients who come to our facility complaining of chest pain or discomfort are given the immediate treatment necessary to avoid as much heart damage as possible. Best demonstrated practices developed by experts in cardiac care to reduce time to treatment in the critical early stages of a heart attack are part of our overall cardiac care service.

 “We are very proud to achieve Accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers,” says Sharon Roush, CEO of South Bay Hospital. “This distinction recognizes our commitment to quality care for our patients and our community.”

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

The Chest Pain Center’s protocol driven and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

The Chest Pain Center at South Bay Hospital has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.  Key areas in which a Chest Pain Center must demonstrate expertise include:

  • Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
  • Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly
  • Effectively treating patients with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
  • Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
  • Ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training
  • Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
  • Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
  • Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack