Holy Name Press Releases

Holy Name Medical Center Receives American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline Achievement Award

June 28, 2017

Holy Name Medical Center is among just eight hospitals in New Jersey to receive the 2017 American Heart Association's (AHA) Mission: Lifeline® Bronze Receiving Quality Achievement Award for implementing quality improvement measures in the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks.

Every year, more than 250,000 people experience what is known as a STEMI, the deadliest type of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart.

The Mission Lifeline program aims to help hospitals improve response times by streamlining care from moment the 9-1-1 call is made to the moment the patient receives treatment at the hospital.

"At Holy Name, we are constantly evolving to improve how we deliver care to our community," said Mike Maron, President and CEO of Holy Name. "Adopting the AHA's performance standards and nationally recognized clinical guidelines underscores our commitment to providing the highest level and quality of care to heart attack patients."

The AHA identified seven areas to help boost STEMI survival, which includes reducing pre hospital contact-to-device time to 90 minutes or less. Contact-to-device time measures the time between the moments an EMT arrives on scene to the moment the patient undergoes a procedure to open the heart blockage at the hospital.

To qualify for the bronze award, Holy Name needed to meet all required measures and standards of performance 75 percent of the time over a three month period. This data was tracked and measured during 2016.

"This recognition is a reflection of how the collaborative efforts of our EMS, emergency medicine, and interventional cardiology teams are improving processes and protocols to increase the chances of survival for heart attack patients," said Angel Mulkay, MD, chief of cardiology and director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at Holy Name. "Meeting the AHA's standards is a signal to patients that we are taking quick and appropriate action and remain dedicated to achieving the highest level of quality care."