Banner Good Samaritan's Cavanagh Heart Center Receives Prestigious Heart Failure Accreditation
PHOENIX (Nov. 14, 2011) – Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center's Cavanagh Heart Center has been designated an Accredited Heart Failure Center from the Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium (HAC), a nationally recognized organization dedicated to improving care and survival rates for heart failure patients.
Banner Good Samaritan’s Cavanagh Heart Center, which sees almost 9,000 patients a year, is nationally ranked by U.S.News & World Report as one of America’s Best Hospitals for Heart Care and Heart Surgery. One of the hospital’s milestones during its 100 year-existence was introducing open-heart surgery in Arizona.
Hospitals receiving this accreditation have met or exceeded a wide set of stringent criteria and established quality measures. Additionally, the hospital must pass an on-site review by an evaluation team from HAC, which determines if the hospital can demonstrate expertise in several key areas including treatment for heart failure patients, patient education, staff competencies and community outreach.
Every 53 seconds someone in America is being told for the first time that they have heart failure. More than 4.8 million Americans have heart failure. Additionally, an estimated 400,000 new cases of heart disease are diagnosed annually, making it the most common diagnosis for patients age 65 years and older and the fifth most common for all age groups.
The HAC site survey team spent an entire day meeting with staff, physicians, and reviewing the Heart Failure program at Banner Good Samaritan. Surveyors noted the Cavanagh Heart Center’s “unbelievable level of engagement, teamwork, and commitment.” They also noted: “We’re honored to be here—this is the best we’ve seen in the country.” In addition, the reviewers asked the Cavanagh Heart Center team to host a national webinar in January so other sites can learn from the hospital’s innovative program.
The Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium is a hospital membership organization, focused on heart failure improvement. It uses a chronic disease state model for accreditation and is the only accrediting body that covers the entire Continuum of Care. The Colloquium has the only accreditation process based upon process improvement. Starting with the human person and using a relationship care model, Colloquium member hospitals work together to identify what is really important to those with heart failure throughout the entire continuum of care.
Every 53 seconds someone in America is being told for the first time that they have heart failure. More than 4.8 million Americans have heart failure. Additionally, an estimated 400,000 new cases of heart disease are diagnosed annually, making it the most common diagnosis for patients age 65 years and older and the fifth most common for all age groups.
Banner Good Samaritan’s Cavanagh Heart Center continues to strengthen its reputation as one of the top medical centers in the Valley by providing innovative treatments and exceptional patient care.
About Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. Banner Good Samaritan is owned and operated by Phoenix-based Banner Health, a non-profit organization. The hospital was named to the 2011-’12 U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list for Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Geriatrics and Gynecology. Banner Good Samaritan has been recognized as a Magnet™ facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor a hospital can earn for its nursing care and practices, and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Valley by The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ in 2007 and 2008 and one of the “Top 100 Hospitals to Work For” by Nursing Professionals magazine.
