Several New Jersey hospitals made headlines and won awards in recent weeks for their efforts in cardiac care.

Earlier this month, five Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Centers were recognized among the nation’s best in treating heart attack patients, receiving the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2022.

The award recognizes the medical centers’ commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that they have reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

The Hackensack Meridian Medical Centers that received the honor were Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, and JFK University Medical Center in Edison.

The facilities are among just 240 hospitals nationwide to receive the high honor.

“I’m grateful for our cardiac teams’ and medical centers’ dedication to continually enhance the quality of care, safety and outcomes for our patients experiencing a heart attack,” said Robert Garrett, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “Heart disease remains one of our network’s primary health concerns, with far too many New Jersey residents impacted each year.”

As part of the criteria for receiving the award, the Hackensack Meridian medical centers demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for two consecutive years — 2020 and 2021 — and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures.

Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a comprehensive quality improvement process, which is data driven, in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

“It is an honor to award the Hackensack Meridian medical centers with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Dr. Michael Kontos, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that they remain committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”

More than 800,000 Americans suffer heart attacks annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.

The registry establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality and outcome of care for these patients while empowering health care provider teams to treat heart attack patients using the most current, science-based guidelines.

Also in August, seven Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Centers were nationally recognized for their commitment to providing high-quality heart failure care, receiving the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure Quality Achievement Awards, which recognize the medical centers’ commitment to improving outcomes for patients with heart failure, reducing patient readmissions, and providing more health days at home.

There are six levels of achievement – Gold Plus, Gold, Silver Plus, Silver, Bronze and Participating.

Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank and Ocean University Medical Center in Brick received the Heart Failure Gold Plus Award and Target: Heart Failure & Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Rolls. Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen received the Heart Failure Gold Plus Award and with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel received the Heart Failure Gold Plus Award. While Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin received the Heart Failure Silver Plus Award. And JFK University Medical Center in Edison received the Heart Failure Bronze Award with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

The American Heart Association recognizes the goal of treating patients with 85% or higher compliance to core standards outlined by the AHA over increasing lengths of time, culminating in two consecutive calendar years for Gold Plus. Hospitals receiving the Target: Heart Failure Honor roll are required to meet specific criteria that improves medication adherence, provides early follow up care and coordination and enhances patient education. The goal is to further reduce hospital readmissions and help patients improve their quality of life in managing this chronic condition. Hospitals receiving Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, demonstrates that patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to heart disease.

“I’m proud of our cardiovascular teams’ continuing dedication to providing the best care possible for heart failure patients,” Garrett said. “Through their efforts our patients with HF can experience healthier and longer lives.”

“We are pleased to recognize Hackensack Meridian Health’s leaders and teams for a strong commitment to caring for the people with heart failure,” said Dr. Clyde Yancy, national chairperson of the American Heart Association Heart Failure systems of care advisory group, and chief, division of cardiology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. “Hospitals that participate in Get With The Guidelines quality improvement programs often see better patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”

Finally, Englewood Health’s Emergency Services recently received its sixth consecutive American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Plus Achievement Award.

The award recognizes institutions that demonstrate a commitment to treating patients according to the most up-to-date, research-based practices as outlined by the American Heart Association and reflects the commitment of the Englewood Health EMS team to providing rapid, research-based care to people experiencing the most severe form of heart attack.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the American Heart Association year after year,” said Rick Sposa, director of emergency medical services at Englewood Health. “Our EMS team is dedicated to providing optimal care for heart attack patients to ensure they have the best possible chance of survival.”

“Our EMTs, paramedics, and supervisors display hard work, dedication, and compassion every day,” said Barbara Schreibman, MD, EMS medical director at Englewood Health. “This is a well-deserved acknowledgement of the excellent care provided by our entire EMS team.”