South Miami Hospital’s Heart Attack Unit has been recognized for its quality patient care by the leading international organization that promotes best-care practices for treating heart attack victims.

The Society of Chest Pain Centers granted the hospital’s Heart Attack Unit a three-year accreditation – its second such accreditation since the unit opened in 2004. The accreditation means that the Heart Attack Unit’s protocols align with the Society of Chest Pain Centers’ goal of significantly reducing death from heart attacks through early, accurate and effective treatment.

According to the Society of Chest Pain Centers, South Miami Hospital has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system; assessing, diagnosing and treating patients quickly; continually seeking to improve processes and procedures; ensuring personnel have adequate and continuous training; having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care; supporting programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack.

"This recognition by the Society of Chest Pain Centers validates the treatment protocols we’ve put in place to help our patients survive a heart attack," said Yvonne Johnson, M.D., Emergency Director of South Miami Hospital’s Heart Attack Unit.

The Heart Attack Unit performs angioplasty consistently under 60 minutes of a patient’s arrival at the Emergency Center – surpassing American Heart Association guidelines of 90 minutes or less.

"Patients’ survival usually depends on quick treatment, so we’ve designed our Unit’s response to heart attacks in a way that minimizes the time from when the patient enters the Emergency Room to the time we open the blood vessel," said Armando Garcia, M.D., South Miami Heart Center cardiologist and director of the Heart Attack Unit program.

South Miami Hospital is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest faith-based, not-for-profit healthcare organization in the region. It also includes Baptist Hospital, Baptist Children’s Hospital, Doctors Hospital, Homestead Hospital, Mariners Hospital in the Upper Keys, Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute and Baptist Outpatient Services. Baptist Health Foundation, the organization’s fundraising arm, supports services at all hospitals and facilities affiliated with Baptist Health.