UHS Wilson Medical Center consistently meets exceptionally high standards in treating heart failure patients, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The AHA recently awarded UHS the Get With The Guidelines®—Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. To receive the award, hospitals must meet stringent standards for at least 24 consecutive months.
“This is a testament to the high quality of care patients receive from our multi-disciplinary team,” says Kim Pilarchik, UHS director of Cardiac Services. “Last year we earned the Silver Plus Award, and the team has remained focused and dedicated enough to reach the Gold standard in 2012. It’s an amazing achievement that definitely helps to improve the lives of our patients and their families.”
According to Emily Dorval, RN, a UHS nurse manager and the Heart Failure Team leader, the AHA guidelines advise treating hospitalized heart failure patients with certain therapies, such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants. The guidelines also suggest providing patients with discharge instructions that may include drug or alcohol counseling and smoking cessation information, as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation.
