By Maria Cook
St. Vincent Heart Center’s Heart Emergency Unit recently earned the PRC Award of Distinction for Excellent Performance in Overall Quality of Care. It is the second consecutive year the Carmel health care facility has received the award.
The award is based on patient feedback, according to Cynthia Cartee, director of the St. Vincent Heart Center’s Heart Emergency Unit.
“This PRC survey is given to patients who received care from an emergency department,” Cartee said. “The designation is based on the percentage of patients who rate the care setting as ‘excellent’ in response to survey questions about the overall quality of care.”
For a health care provider to receive the award, almost 100 percent of surveyed patients must rank the overall quality of care as “excellent.”
The Heart Emergency Unit is St. Vincent Heart Center’s emergency room and critical care unit, focused on treating emergency cardiac issues such as aneurysms and strokes.
“We also see patients with chronic heart conditions who experience serious symptoms due to medication side effects, an irregular heartbeat or post-surgery concerns,” said Cartee, who credited the Heart Emergency Unit’s employee team with the unit’s continued success. “Our specialty is care for cardiovascular disease, but we do so much more.
“What makes us different from other places is our team-approach to care that focuses on all patients of any type. Therefore, we help coordinate, collaborate, intervene and provide care in the quickest, safest and efficient manner.”
Cartee said winning the award was a team effort.
“We focus on patient-centric care and aim to deliver it in a compassionate and respectful way,” she said. “The award two years in a row comes from the team, their ownership and simple guidance from their leader who believes in serving the nurses, paramedics and physicians that work in the department.”
