skip navigation
MEDIA RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner
101 Lake Oconee Parkway • Eatonton, Georgia 31024
Jennifer Moore, Director of Marketing & Public Relations
Direct: 706-923-2028
Email: Send Email

Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation

Eatonton, GA - July 27, 2015 - Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner (PGH) has achieved full Chest Pain Center Accreditationfrom the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC), becoming the first and only critical access hospital in the state to earn this certification. The Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC) is an international not-for-profit organization that focuses on transforming cardiovascular care by assisting facilities in their effort to create communities of excellence that brings together quality, cost and patient satisfaction.


"We are so pleased to have achieved accreditation status at Putnam General Hospital," said Alan Horton, PGH CEO. "The clinical staff and leadership team have put in a tremendous effort to enhance the hospital's responses to cardiac patients and increase the hospital's community outreach efforts related to heart health. Becoming an accredited chest pain center means the community we serve can count on their hospital to provide high quality, safe cardiac care when and where they need it."


Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 people dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. SCPC's goal 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.


An Accredited Chest Pain Center's evidence-based, protocol-driven and systematic approach to cardiac patient care allows clinicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack. Chest pain centers better monitor patients when it is not clear whether or not a patient is having a coronary event. Such monitoring ensures patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.


"When a patient is having a heart attack, the longer the time to treatment, the lower the chances of survival," said Adam Bedgood, PGH Emergency Department Manager & Chest Pain Center Coordinator. "With this in mind, the staff, cardiologists and emergency physicians at PGH, along with Putnam County EMS, have worked diligently over the last few years to set up a system to provide the best cardiac care possible at Putnam General Hospital. This accreditation validates that we have been successful. We treat patients as fast and as well as the best hospitals in the country, right here in Putnam County."


With the increase in chest pain centers came the need to establish standards and adopt best practices designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. SCPC's CPC Accreditation process ensures that hospitals meet or exceed a wide set of stringent criteria and undergo a comprehensive onsite review by a team of accreditation review specialists. Hospitals that received SCPC CPC Accreditation status have achieved a higher level of expertise in dealing with patients who arrive with symptoms of a heart attack. They emphasize the importance of standardized diagnostic and treatment programs that provide more efficient and effective evaluation as well as more appropriate and rapid treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack symptoms. They also serve as a point of entry into the healthcare system to evaluate and treat other medical problems, and they help to promote a healthier lifestyle in an attempt to reduce the risk factors for heart attack.


By achieving SCPC's Chest Pain Center Accreditation status, Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner demonstrated expertise in the following areas:
• Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
• Assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients quickly
• Effectively treating patients with low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
• Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
• Ensuring the competence and training of Accredited Chest Pain Center personnel
• Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
• Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
• Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack


###

Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care
The Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC) is an international nonprofit organization that focuses on transforming cardiovascular care by assisting facilities in their effort to create cardiovascular centers of excellence that deliver quality, cost and patient satisfaction. As the only cross-specialty organization, SCPC provides the support needed for individual hospitals and hospital systems to effectively reduce variations of care and bridge existing gaps in treatment by providing the tools, education and support necessary to improve patient outcomes. For more information on SCPC's accreditation and certification opportunities, visit www.scpc.org, or call toll free 1-877-271-4176.


Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner
Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner (PGH) has proudly provided community based healthcare to Putnam County and the surrounding lake country since 1968. Putnam General Hospital is a Joint Commission Accredited 25-bed Critical Access Hospital and offers a comprehensive range of services: acute and skilled care; a full range of outpatient diagnostic, rehabilitation and physical therapy services; occupational health care; outpatient and general, minimally invasive surgery; radiology services; and a state-of-the-art 24-hour emergency room. Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner has been recognized for achieving consistently high levels of patient safety and quality patient outcomes by the Georgia Hospital Association and other rating agencies and was named a Coverdell Champion Hospital for Stroke Prevention and Care by the Georgia Coverdell Acute Stork Registry. For more information, visit www.putnamgeneral.com.

Go to Top