UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s Hospital and UIHC Medical Center Downtown have each received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2025.
The two Corridor hospitals were among 323 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.
According to a UnityPoint news release, St. Luke’s Hospital has reached a goal of treating heart attack patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
To receive the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, hospitals must demonstrate sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024) and performed at the highest specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients, the release states.
“St. Luke’s is honored to be recognized with the Platinum Performance Award for our leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in heart attack care,” said Justin McDonald, director of Heart and Vascular Services in a statement. “The receipt of this award for the fourteenth year in a row indicates that our teams at St. Luke’s are committed to providing the highest quality cardiovascular care.”
St. Luke’s Hospital is among nine UnityPoint Health hospitals that received performance achievement awards from the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for 2025.
“We are thrilled to offer high-quality heart care to the communities we serve and to provide an exceptional patient experience,” said Gregory R. Johnson, MD, SFHM, UnityPoint Health chief medical officer in a statement. “We know how much it means to have this level of care close to home and we are thankful for these awards that show we are the right choice for treating heart attacks.”
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.
According to the release, Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.
