BEDFORD, Texas — Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford has once again earned Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval^® and the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check mark for Primary Heart Attack Center certification. This is the second consecutive time the hospital has earned this achievement.

“Through our commitment and compassion, it was truly rewarding to earn this certification once again, and it confirms that we’re still committed to doing what’s best for our patients,” said Brandon Goertz, FACHE, Texas Health HEB president. “We’re focused on providing individuals with high-quality care, from the physicians on the medical staff to nurses to each and every hospital employee.”

During the two-day site visit, reviewers from Joint Commission evaluated the quality of the hospital’s treatment of STEMI — one of the most common and lethal types of heart attacks. STEMI, or ST-elevation myocardial infarction, is a major heart attack caused by a complete blockage of one of the organ’s main arteries.

Sarah Canales, M.S.N., APRN, ACNS-BC, Chest Pain Program coordinator for Texas Health HEB, said all aspects of the program are meticulously evaluated to earn and maintain certification.

“From diagnosis to monitoring to the treatment of heart attacks, we’re exceedingly proud that we continue to be recognized for fast, quality care,” Canales said. “We’re committed to addressing the needs of cardiac patients, especially when every second counts in their survival. Not only that, through our community outreach and education, we empower individuals so they can survive and hopefully thrive after a heart attack.”

As a Primary Heart Attack Center, Texas Health HEB has shown that it has the necessary resources and manpower to provide heart attack patients with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) – a procedure used to address blocked arteries – 24 hours, seven days a week.

According to Joint Commission and the American Heart Association, key characteristics of the Primary Heart Attack Center program include:

• Focusing on symptom onset and first medical contact (pre-hospital and upon arrival), emergency medical services, catheterization laboratories and inpatient settings
• Providing continuous on-site PCI coverage for STEMI patients
• Keeping door-to-balloon (D2B) times within 90 minutes or less, per guidelines from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association

The door-to-balloon time references the critical moments between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and when the patient undergoes a PCI procedure in the cardiac catheterization lab to restore blood flow to the patient’s heart. The procedure involves inflating a tiny balloon on the end of the catheter to push open the clogged artery.

According to Sunita Koshy-Nesbitt, M.D., MBA, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, earning national certification is more than just meeting the criteria.

“Proper diagnosis and treatment for a heart attack is critical,” said Koshy-Nesbitt, who also serves as Texas Health’s Hospital Channel chief quality officer and as chief medical and quality officer for Texas Health Physicians Group*. “We’re continuously going above and beyond to care for North Texans by providing high-quality cardiovascular care inside and outside our hospitals each and every day.”

*Physicians employed by Texas Health Physicians Group practice independently and are not employees or agents of Texas Health Resources hospitals.