Reston Hospital Center Becomes Northern Virginia’s Only Accredited Chest Pain Center

Reston, VA, July 6, 2009 — Reston Hospital has become the first in Northern Virginia to receive fully accreditation as a Chest Pain Center. To receive this designation, granted by the Society of Chest Pain Centers, a hospital’s chest pain center, a specialized unit housed between the Cardiac Cath Lab and the Emergency Room, must demonstrate expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing on-site evaluations by a review team from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.

There are eight key areas accredited Chest Pain Centers must address, including integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system; assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly; showing strong cooperation between medical staff, hospital nursing and administration, and EMS; and implementing community outreach and education initiatives.

“Being named an Accredited Chest Pain Center is a testament to our Cath Lab, Emergency Department, and EMS teams,” says Bill Adams, CEO of Reston Hospital Center. “Our team has been recognized for their ability to assess a heart attack and stop it in its tracks with clot-busting medication, angioplasty and stenting.”  

Patients who utilize the Chest Pain Center at RHC have access to a complete range of cardiac care including diagnostic and interventional procedures such as angioplasty, pacemaker implantation, electrophysiology studies, and cardioablation, a treatment for atrial fibrillation, which is a common type of irregular heartbeat that, left untreated, can cause a heart attack or stroke.   Patients needing emergency open heart surgery are flown directly to the hospital’s affiliate, Washington Hospital Center, a national leader in cardiovascular care.

“Patients experiencing heart attack symptoms can be reassured that they are receiving quick, evidenced-based care that gives them the best outcome possible,” stated Adams. “Additionally, from the time a patient arrives at Reston Hospital Center’s emergency room, our Heart and Vascular Care team members have a proven record in opening patients’ arteries well within the American Heart Association’s standard of 90 minutes.”

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

The Chest Pain Centers’ protocol driven and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

About Reston Hospital Center
Since its founding in 1986, Reston Hospital Center -- a 187-bed, acute-care medical and surgical facility situated in Reston’s vibrant Town Center – has consistently served the Northern Virginia area with compassion, care and the newest medical technologies. Part of HCA, the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services, Reston Hospital Center has garnered high honors for attentive patient care and nursing excellence, including the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (AACN) prestigious  Magnet Recognition Program®, and AACN’s BEACON Award for Critical Care Excellence™.  Always highly attuned to the comfort and needs of its community, Reston Hospital Center blends the convenience of all private rooms, valet parking and an easily accessible suburban location with the personal assurance that only the most skilled and best trained medical and support staff can offer.  Above all else, Reston Hospital Center is in constant pursuit of its mission: A Passion for Excellence. Compassion for You.

About Washington Hospital Center
Washington Hospital Center is a 926-bed major teaching hospital and a proud member of the MedStar Health System. It is the largest private not-for-profit hospital in the nation’s capital, among the largest hospitals in the mid-Atlantic region and a major referral center for the most complex tertiary services. It consistently ranks among the nation’s top hospitals as recognized in U.S.News & World Report. The Hospital Center is a national leader in the research, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular and kidney disease, stroke, cancer, endocrine disorders, and geriatric and respiratory care. The hospital operates an NIH Stroke Center and is the first stroke center in the District of Columbia to be certified by The Joint Commission. The Hospital Center operates MedSTAR, one of the country’s top shock-trauma and medevac programs, and the region’s only adult burn center. Washington Hospital Center has a $1 billion operating budget, employs a workforce of more than 6,000 associates and has a medical staff of 1,400 comprised of private attending physicians and employed faculty. The medical staff includes a number of nationally recognized leaders in the practice, training and advancement of medicine. In FY08, the hospital’s volume of service included 44,000 admissions, 25,000 surgeries, 77,000 emergency room visits and 350,000 ambulatory care visits.  Each year, more than 300 medical residents and fellows train at Washington Hospital Center’s 26 fully accredited independent programs.  Washington Hospital Center also maintains affiliations with several area medical schools including Georgetown University School of Medicine. 

Media Contact:
Joanna Fazio
Director, Communications
Reston Hospital Center
p. 703/689.9030
f. 703/689.0840