Regional Hospital of Scranton Receives Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation
1/18/2017
(SCRANTON, Pa. Jan. 19, 2016) – Commonwealth Health Regional Hospital of Scranton has been notified that it is the first hospital in the nation to receive full Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation from the American College of Cardiology.
“This accreditation reaffirms what we at Regional Hospital believe and what many patients in Northeastern Pennsylvania have experienced here, that our cardiac care is of the highest quality,” Justin Davis, CEO of Regional and Moses Taylor hospitals, said. “We are extremely proud of our entire team and the excellent, compassionate care that we deliver.”
Regional Hospital is in the midst of a $15 million project that includes the construction of a new home for the Heart & Vascular Institute and an expansion of its intensive care unit. The project is expected to be completed in late spring.
This is the second first-in-the-nation certification by a Commonwealth Health hospital. In 2015, Moses Taylor Hospital became the first hospital in the United States to earn The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval ® for Perinatal Care. Perinatal care refers to the care of mother and child before, during and shortly after birth.
Davis said the cardiac cath lab accreditation is validation that Northeastern Pennsylvania residents have access to exceptional care in their own backyard.
“In the past, people in our community had to travel to hospitals in larger cities for specialized treatment,” Davis said. “That’s no longer the case. We are performing procedures and offering services that allow local residents to receive the finest care close to home.”
Cardiac catheterization labs are critical points of care for the millions of patients suspected of having a heart attack each year. It is essential that those in need of heart catheterizations receive the safest and most appropriate lab procedures. By raising the bar for clinical practices in the cath lab, patients should anticipate better outcomes and more effective treatment.
This accreditation means that Regional Hospital has demonstrated that it actively incorporates process improvement, evidence-based science, and the Consensus Document for Catheterization Laboratory Standards created by the ACC and the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions into its cardiac cath lab procedures and protocols.
The accreditation takes into consideration:
- standardized assessment for patients before undergoing a heart cath to ensure quality and patient safety;
- care coordination in the procedure room for sedation, infection control, radiation safety, universal protocol, and time out procedures;
- appropriate handoff to a cath recovery unit to better monitor and track complications, enhance physician-to-patient communication, patient family communication, discharge instructions, and follow-up information.
ACC’s Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation process came about as greater numbers of facilities in the United States sought to establish standards and adopt best practices in the quality of care provided to patients needing cardiac cath lab services. The accreditation process ensures that hospitals meet or exceed stringent criteria and undergo a comprehensive onsite review by a team of accreditation review specialists.
Elaine Walker, program director of the Heart & Vascular Institute at Regional Hospital, said the accreditation is a reaffirmation of the hospital’s history of quality cardiac care.
“Our cardiac catheterization lab has always provided safe quality care to our patients in the community,” Walker said. “The American College of Cardiology Cardiac Cath Accreditation recognizes and validates this by looking at our processes of care we give to the patients every day.”
Cardiologist David FitzPatrick, M.D., credits the exceptional teamwork of cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons, nurse practitioners, nurses, technicians and support staff who work together to provide the best care – from cardiac catheterizations to open-heart surgery.
Sridhar Sampath Kumar, M.D., is medical director of the cardiac cath lab and Mark Mileski is clinical director of the cardiac cath lab.
“We have an excellent team and the establishment of our Heart & Vascular Institute and the consolidation of all of our cardiac services into one general area will only improve the care we have to offer our community,” FitzPatrick said.
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