(St. Louis) -- Tenet Saint Louis’ Des Peres Hospital announced today that it is among 83 hospitals owned and operated by Tenet subsidiaries to have been recognized for participating in the American Heart Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM – Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) program. The program is designed to ensure heart disease and stroke patients are consistently treated and discharged based on nationally accepted recommendations and guidelines to reduce a patient’s risk of a second heart attack or stroke.
“We commend Tenet for their commitment to Get With The GuidelinesSM and raising the bar on quality to improve care for coronary artery disease patients,” said Kenneth A. LaBresh, M.D., American Heart Association volunteer member of the national Get With The GuidelinesSM Steering Committee. “The full implementation of secondary prevention guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives of coronary patients. This quality improvement program translates what we know about cardiovascular disease into what is done in clinical practice with a goal of saving lives.”
“We are very proud to have been recognized by the American Heart Association for participating in a program that seeks to increase the number of patients receiving the latest evidence-based care,” said Michele Meyer, chief executive officer of Des Peres Hospital. “This is an affirmation of the commitment we have made to improving treatment for patients with coronary disease who come to our hospital.”
Jennifer Daley, M.D., Tenet’s senior vice president for clinical quality, said: “One of the key components of Tenet’s internal, company wide Commitment to Quality initiative is supporting evidence-based practice of medicine. We’re delighted to participate in the American Heart Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM program that aims to achieve the best evidence-based practice in cardiac care at our hospitals.”
Under the Get With The GuidelinesSM program, patients are started on aggressive risk-reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation and weight management counseling and referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before they are discharged.
According to American Heart Association statistics, more than 450,000 people suffer recurrent heart attacks each year. Statistics also show that within one year of a heart attack, about 25 percent of men and 38 percent of women will die. Within six years after a heart attack, about 22 percent of men and 46 percent of women will be disabled with heart failure.
Tenet’s Commitment to Quality is a company wide strategy designed to enhance the overall quality and productivity of the care delivery process at Tenet hospitals across the country. It includes a series of targeted initiatives to bring about significant improvements in evidence-based quality of care and patient safety, nursing practice, medical staff governance, and other important areas related to the delivery of quality care. Commitment to Quality has already been implemented at Des Peres Hospital and 29 other of the 69 core Tenet hospitals that will remain after the company’s current divestiture program is concluded. Full implementation to the rest of Tenet’s core hospitals is expected to be complete by June 30, 2005.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals and related health services. Tenet’s hospitals aim to provide the best possible care to every patient who comes through their doors, with a clear focus on quality and service. Tenet can be found on the World Wide Web at www.tenethealth.com
Des Peres Hospital is a 167-bed community hospital located at 2345 Dougherty Ferry Road. Des Peres Hospital has been serving the medical and health care needs of St. Louis County for 30 years. The hospital provides quality medical and surgical care through a wide variety of services and programs, including senior care, heart care, orthopedics and emergency care. Des Peres Hospital is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association’s Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program.
Des Peres Hospital is part of Tenet Saint Louis, which also includes Forest Park Hospital, Saint Louis University Hospital, St. Alexius Hospital-Broadway Campus and St. Alexius Hospital-Jefferson Campus. To learn more about Des Peres Hospital, visit www.despereshospital.com.
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