The American Heart Association (AHA) has recognized 14 hospitals in Mississippi that have received awards for improving health outcomes for cardiovascular patients through evidence-based efficient and coordinated care.
AHA’s Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline are hospital-based quality improvement recognition programs that use the latest evidence-based scientific guidelines to save lives and hasten health care recovery times.
Through these programs, the AHA recognizes participating hospitals, clinics, and emergency medical services systems for demonstrating their dedication to improving quality care and reducing barriers to prompt treatment.
Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline award categories cover treatment for stroke, high cholesterol, cardiac arrest, heart failure, ST-elevation myocardial infarction heart attack, Type 2 diabetes, and atrial fibrillation.
Award levels range from gold plus to bronze status depending on the number of requirements met for each designation.
“Patients experiencing cardiovascular events depend on efficient, coordinated care to survive,” AH volunteer president Joseph Wu said. “The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline programs help hospitals follow the latest, research-based standards to ensure each of their patients has the best chance of survival and the highest quality of life possible.”
Approximately 13,000 quality improvement awards were earned across the nation this year, with many organizations earning more than one award.
“For more than 20 years, the American Heart Association had championed quality improvement in health and health care, and these awardees put in the work to ensure equitable, quality care in communities across the nation,” Wu said. “Thousands of health care organizations see the value these programs bring and how the American Heart Association supports their commitment to quality health care.”
Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke or heart attack, and heart disease and stroke are the number one and number five causes of death in the United States, respectively, according to the American Heart Association 2022 Statistical Update.
Here’s the list of awards each Mississippi hospital received:
- Ochsner Medical Center Hancock in Bay St. Louis — Get With The Guidelines: Silver Plus Achievement for Stroke
- Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle in Columbus — Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke, Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll
- Delta Health-The Medical Center in Greenville — NSTEMI: Silver
- Greenwood Leflore Hospital in Greenwood — Get With The Guidelines: Gold Achievement for Stroke
- Memorial Hospital at Gulfport — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll Elite, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke
- Singing River Gulfport — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Get With The Guidelines: Silver Plus Achievement for Stroke, STEMI: Silver Plus Referring
- Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll Elite, NSTEMI: Gold, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke
- Merit Health Wesley in Hattiesburg — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Heart Failure, Target: Heart Failure™ Honor Roll, Get With The Guidelines: Silver Plus Achievement for Stroke
- Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll Elite, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Heart Failure, Target: Heart Failure™ Honor Roll
- St. Dominic Memorial Hospital in Jackson — 10-Year Recognition, Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll Elite, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke
- University of Mississippi Health Care in Jackson — 10-Year Recognition, Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll Elite Plus, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke
- Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb — STEMI: Silver Plus Receiving
- Ochsner Rush Medical Center in Meridian — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Achievement for Stroke
- Merit Health Natchez – CHS in Natchez — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Get With The Guidelines: Silver Achievement for Stroke
- Ocean Springs Hospital — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, NSTEMI: Gold, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke, Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll
- Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, STEMI: Gold Receiving, NSTEMI: Gold, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke
- Baptist Memorial Hospital – DeSoto in Southaven — Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke
- North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo — Target: Stroke™ Honor Roll Elite, Get With The Guidelines: Gold Plus Achievement for Stroke, Get With The Guidelines: Silver Achievement for Resuscitation
Click here to see full list of hospitals named by the AHA across the nation.
