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St. Elizabeth, Mercy designated as Chest Pain Centers

Accreditation reflects Affinity’s superior quality of cardiac care

12 / 12 / 2007

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MENASHA, Wis. – St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh have been designated as accredited Chest Pain Centers by the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC).

The three-year SCPC seal of accreditation certifies that the two Affinity Health System hospitals and their staffs are fully prepared to care for patients with heart attack symptoms. Successful treatment of heart attacks is time dependant and must be initiated rapidly. Additionally, the St. Elizabeth accreditation comes with a PCI designation, meaning that St. Elizabeth Hospital is adept at performing emergency angioplasty procedures.

“This was a rigorous accreditation process and we are honored that both Mercy and St. Elizabeth have been given this designation,” said Daniel E. Neufelder, president and chief executive officer of Affinity Health System. “Every aspect of our cardiac services was examined—from the moment the EMTs respond to a 911 call or a patient comes into our emergency room with cardiac symptoms—and the review committee found that we have a systematic approach to patient management that allows our doctors and nurses to reduce the time prior to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack,” Neufelder said.

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of heart disease patients.

In receiving the accreditation, both Mercy and St. Elizabeth demonstrated 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 the Affinity hospitals met or exceeded criteria 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.
• Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care.
• Ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training.
• Maintaining organizational structure and commitment.
• Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures.
• Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they have symptoms of a possible heart attack.

The Society of Chest Pain Centers is a patient centric non-profit international professional organization focused on improving care for patients with acute coronary syndromes and other related maladies. Established in 1998, the society is dedicated to patient advocacy and focusing on ischemic heart disease. For more information on the Society of Chest Pain Centers, visit www.scpcp.org.

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For the Editor:
Affinity Health System, a Catholic mission-oriented regional health care network, is a partnership of Ministry Health Care and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Affinity Health System is the Fox Valley’s third largest employer, according to the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and is ranked 24 among the top 100 integrated health care networks nationwide (Verispan 2008). Both St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh rank among the top 1 percent among hospitals nationwide in terms of quality and efficiency, as determined by the 2007 Premier | CareScience Select practice National Quality Award. Network Health Plan has achieved Excellent accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the highest possible level. It is ranked 37th among the 250 rated health plans in the nation in terms of customer satisfaction and clinical performance, according to the U.S. News and World Report/NCQA Best Health Plans in America listing. Members of Affinity include Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Health Foundation, Oshkosh; St. Elizabeth Hospital and the St. Elizabeth Hospital Community Foundation, Appleton; Affinity Medical Group, a regional network of 23 family practice and specialty clinics in 13 communities; Calumet Medical Center, Chilton; Network Health Plan, Menasha; and Affinity Occupational Health.