ARLINGTON, Texas – Multiple Texas Health hospitals and joint ventures were recently recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) for their advanced care of heart attack and stroke patients.

Ten facilities were recognized with Mission: Lifeline^® awards for heart attack treatment, and nine received Get With The Guidelines^® awards for stroke and diabetes care.

With someone dying of a stroke every 3 minutes and 17 seconds in the U.S., it comes as no surprise that strokes rank No. 5 among all causes of death, according to the American Heart Association. Stroke ranks as the No. 5 cause of death in Texas as well.

And nationwide, heart disease and strokes claim more lives each year than all forms of cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined.

“Texas Health is committed to partnering with North Texans for a lifetime of care,” said Kirk King, Texas Health’s Hospital Channel chief operating officer. “We’re ready to address the most complex cases by offering advanced technologies and compassionate care.”

Sunita Koshy-Nesbitt, M.D., M.B.A., agrees, adding that the awards go beyond just national recognition.

“I’m pleased our facilities have been recognized for their excellence by the American Heart Association,” said Koshy-Nesbitt, who also serves as Hospital Channel chief quality officer and is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist. 

“Texas Health provides the necessary resources along with the quality cardiovascular and stroke care North Texans need and deserve.”

Cardiovascular Accolades

The AHA awards recognize facilities for their commitment to treatment guidelines and quality improvement. The awards for heart attack care were based on participation and achievement in the Mission: Lifeline program, which is subcategorized by STEMI and NSTEMI.

• STEMI stands for ST elevation myocardial infarction, a lethal type of heart attack that involves full blockage of the coronary artery.
• NSTEMI is a non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, which is normally less damaging to the heart and is a partial blockage of the coronary artery or a blockage of a minor heart blood vessel.

This year’s recipients of the Mission: Lifeline (STEMI) award include:

• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance — Silver Receiving Center
• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth — Silver Receiving Center Plus
• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford — Gold Receiving Center Plus
• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth — Gold Receiving Center Plus
• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville — Bronze Referring Hospital
• Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital Arlington — Gold Receiving Center Plus
• Texas Health Huguley Hospital Fort Worth South — Gold Receiving Center
• Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton — Gold Receiving Center Plus
• Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano — Gold Receiving Center Plus

This year’s recipients of the Mission: Lifeline (NSTEMI) award include:

• Texas Health Alliance — Silver
• Texas Health Denton — Silver
• Texas Health Fort Worth — Gold
• Texas Health Heart & Vascular Arlington — Gold
• Texas Health HEB — Gold
• Texas Health Huguley — Silver
• Texas Health Plano — Gold
• Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas — Gold
• Texas Health Southwest — Gold

Commitment to Stroke Care

The Get With The Guidelines^® awards recognize a hospital’s commitment to providing stroke and heart failure treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.

To earn this recognition, hospitals must meet specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke and heart failure patients at a designated level for a set period (24 consecutive months for gold, 12 months for silver and three months for bronze). These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with current, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of expediting recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.

Receiving the Get With The Guidelines Stroke and Resuscitation awards for 2023 were:

• Texas Health Alliance — Bronze Stroke award
• Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital — Gold Plus and Target Stroke Elite Honor Roll awards
• Texas Health Dallas — Gold Plus and Target Stroke Elite Honor Roll awards
• Texas Health Denton — Gold Plus Stroke awards
• Texas Health Fort Worth — Gold Plus, Target Stroke Elite Honor Roll and Target Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll awards
• Texas Health HEB — Gold Plus and Target Stroke Honor Roll awards
• Texas Health Huguley — Silver Plus Stroke award
• Texas Health Plano — Gold Plus and Target Stroke Elite Honor Roll awards
• Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound — Silver Resuscitation award

Diabetes Recognitions

Four Texas Health facilities received additional recognition earning the AHA’s Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll^™ award, which focuses on facilities providing the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when those living with Type 2 diabetes are hospitalized for a stroke.

Receiving the Target Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award were:

• Texas Health Dallas
• Texas Health Denton
• Texas Health HEB
• Texas Health Huguley

To learn more about Texas Health’s specialized services, click on diabetes treatment, heart & vascular care and stroke care.