The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON — People residing in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts and have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease. Columbia County Health System is committed to changing that.

For efforts to optimize acute cardiac care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities, Columbia County Health System received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Rural Recognition Bronze award for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

The American Heart Association (AHA), the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, recognizes the importance of health care services provided to people living in rural areas by rural hospitals. Area hospitals play a vital role in the initiation of timely evidence-based care. All rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines® - CAD are eligible for recognition based on a unique methodology focused on suspected non ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) and/or STEMI performance metrics.

“We are proud that our team at Columbia County Health System is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Southeastern Washington who are affected by coronary artery disease, giving them the best chance of survival and the best possible quality of life,” said Gretchen Eslick, RN, DNS. “As a hospital in a rural community, we deal with characteristics such as extended distances from receiving hospitals with interventional cardiology services, interfacility transportation, and bed availability, as well as limited staffing resources. We’ve made it a goal to make sure those hurdles do not affect the standard of care our patients receive.

“Residents in rural communities deserve high-quality emergency cardiac care. I’m proud of our team for their commitment to heart care excellence and this achievement,” said Eslick.

This award recognizes the hospital’s efforts toward care excellence for suspected non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome care excellence. Participating hospitals are measured through composite scores in compliance with seven guideline-directed care metrics for STEMI. This includes early recognition of STEMI by electrocardiogram; timely initiation of inter-facility hospital transfer; initiation of a rapid reperfusion strategy by thrombolytic administration and/or primary percutaneous intervention; administration of appropriate antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications before transfer.

“Patients and health care professionals in Southeastern Washington State face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, a co-author on “Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association” and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “Columbia County Health System has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”

For more information about the American Heart Association’s Rural Recognition awards, visit https://tinyurl.com/m26hcn8j