Healthcare

St. David’s Georgetown Hospital offers a wide range of medical treatments.

St. David’s Georgetown Hospital, part of St. David’s HealthCare, is a 114-bed facility with a 24-hour emergency department with a level IV trauma centre; Inpatient and outpatient surgery; advanced pulmonary intervention; critical care skills; acute inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation; orthopaedics and joint replacement; robotic services; and maternity and newborn services with mother-baby care are just some of the treatments available.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has recognised several St. David’s HealthCare locations for delivering excellent stroke care. The Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award was given to St. David’s Medical Center, St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, and St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognised, research-based guidelines.

Stroke is the fifth highest cause of death in the United States and the top cause of adult disability. Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke, and over 795,000 people have a new or recurrent stroke each year. Early detection and treatment of stroke is critical for enhancing survival, reducing disability, and shortening recovery times.

Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was created to help healthcare providers provide the most current, research-based guidelines for managing stroke patients.

Kenneth Mitchell, M.D., chief medical officer for St. David’s HealthCare, said, “We are thrilled to be recognised by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for our devotion to helping our patients have the highest possible chance of survival following a stroke.” “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke makes it easy for our teams to put established knowledge and guidelines to work every day to enhance stroke patient outcomes,” says the author.

Participants not only follow treatment protocols, but they also educate patients on how to manage their health and rehabilitation once they return home.

The Target: StrokeSM Elite award was also given to St. David’s Medical Center, St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, and St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center. To be eligible for this honour, hospitals must achieve quality standards designed to shorten the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only medicine approved by the FDA to treat ischemic stroke. The Target: Stroke Honor Roll also went to St. David’s Georgetown Hospital.

The American Heart Association has recognised St. David’s HealthCare facilities for delivering excellent care to patients who have suffered serious heart attacks. The Mission: Lifeline® STEMI Gold Plus Award was given to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center and St. David’s South Austin Medical Center for implementing specific quality improvement standards outlined by the American Heart Association for the care of STEMI heart attack patients.

The Mission: Lifeline STEMI Gold Award was given to St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. In addition, the Mission: Lifeline NSTEMI Gold Award was presented to St. David’s Medical Center, St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, and Heart Hospital of Austin for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the treatment of non-STEMI heart attack patients.

“Every minute counts when managing a heart attack,” said Kenneth Mitchell, M.D., chief medical officer at St. David’s HealthCare. “It requires a tremendous amount of collaboration from our nurses and physicians, as well as regional EMS services, to achieve the speedy treatment targets for heart attack patients. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and commitment to our patients.”

ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the worst type of heart attack, affects more than 250,000 people in the United States each year. A STEMI is caused by a blockage in the heart’s blood supply, and it needs immediate medical attention. It’s vital to restore blood flow as soon as possible to avoid mortality, whether by mechanically opening the blocked arterial or by administering clot-busting medication.

“Patient outcomes increase when medical professionals use the most up-to-date, evidence-based treatment guidelines,” said Joel Rice, executive director of the American Heart Association. “The plain truth is that the motivation for constant quality improvement is based on this simple truth. Our broad range of programmes can assist hospitals in their drive for ever-better care by allowing them to advance further and faster.”

The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline programme aims to remove barriers to timely heart attack care, starting with a 9-1-1 call and continuing through EMS transport, hospital treatment, and discharge. The project offers tools, training, and other resources to help people who are dealing with a heart attack follow the latest evidence-based treatment standards.

Visit the American Heart Association’s website to learn more about the programme and its recognition requirements.
St. David’s HealthCare is one of Texas’ largest health systems, with eight of the area’s top hospitals. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest presidential distinction for performance achievement, has been given to the organisation. St. David’s HealthCare is Austin’s fourth-largest private employer, with more than 10,500 employees spread across 169 locations.

St. David’s HealthCare is a unique collaboration between HCA Healthcare, a hospital management firm, and two local organisations, the St. David’s Foundation and the Georgetown Health Foundation. The foundations are funded by the earnings from the hospitals’ activities, which are then invested back into the community. St. David’s HealthCare has donated almost $700 million to the community since its founding in 1996 to improve the health and healthcare of Central Texans.

Mission: Lifeline

The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® initiative assists hospitals and emergency medical services in developing systems of care for acute coronary syndrome patients that follow recognised standards and procedures. The initiative works by mobilising teams across the continuum of care to adopt clinical treatment guidelines developed by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.