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Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital Cardiac & Vascular Institute Emergency Services department is an Accredited Chest Pain Center by the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC). The SCPC is a non-profit international society dedicated to the belief that heart disease can be eliminated as the number one cause of death worldwide. The Society brings together cardiology, emergency medicine and other professions to jointly focus on improving timely, quality care for cardiac patients, especially during a heart emergency.
Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital was first accredited as a Chest Pain Center in February 2006 and was recertified in November 2008 for a second 3-year cycle as an Accredited Chest Pain Center. 
Because 85% of heart muscle damage occurs in the first two hours of a heart attack, time is critical during a heart emergency. Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital's "door to balloon [angioplasty] time" is better than the national guideline of 90 minutes or less. "Door to balloon time" means the total time between a patient arriving at our hospital's emergency department, being diagnosed as needing cardiac catheterization, and then receiving the life-saving treatment.
ESJH performed 425 Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) procedures (also known as balloon angioplasty) in 2008. Currently, only three other hospitals in Colorado hold Chest Pain Center with PCI accreditation.
Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. One of the goals of the SCPC 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.
To earn Chest Pain Center accreditation, a facility must successfully meet the Society's eight criteria:
- Integration of the emergency department with the Emergency Medical System
- Timely diagnosis and treatment of patients with ACS (acute coronary syndromes)
- Assessment of patients with low to moderate risk of ACS
- Functional facility design
- Organizational structure
- Process improvement orientation
- Community outreach
- Personnel competencies and training
Chest Pain Centers strive to quickly diagnose cardiac patients, begin treatment within minutes, and significantly improve the chance of a positive outcome. Studies show that Chest Pain Centers reduce mortality rates by 37%.
The emphasis of Chest Pain Centers includes focusing on high-risk patients as well as decreasing unnecessary admissions of low-risk patients with chest pain. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain, but only 10% to 15% of the patients are diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack. An estimated 50% to 60% of emergency department chest pain patients are admitted to coronary care units and most are found to be free of cardiac disease.
Chest Pain Centers achieve success with early intervention and rapid initiation of therapy.
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