Glendale Adventist Medical Center (GAMC) has been identified as “The Number One Top Performer” for its STEMI Receiving Center. From Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013, Glendale Adventist had the lowest door to balloon time out of 34 L.A. county hospitals. Door to balloon time means the amount of time between the heart attack patient arriving at the doors of the emergency department and the opening of the clogged cardiac artery in the cardiac catheterization lab. The more quickly the artery is opened, the more quickly blood flow and oxygen can be delivered to the heart muscle. Quicker times mean heart muscle is saved, “time is muscle.”

GAMC 2013 door to balloon time ranged from 42 to 75 minutes.

“Glendale Adventist is committed to providing this top quality heart care to our community,” said Karen R. Brandt, FNP-C, MSN, vice president, Ancillary Services, GAMC.

The hospital is designated as a STEMI (heart attack) receiving center (SRC) by Los Angeles County Emergency Services. As an SRC, when emergency medical personnel confirm a heart attack/STEMI diagnosis, they will bypass other non-SRC hospitals and bring a patient directly to the GAMC emergency department for treatment. STEMI is a medical term that means heart attack (ST Elevation MI).

The county review team spoke of the GAMC program in high regard and congratulated the GAMC STEMI team for exceptional treatment times, as well as exceptional inter-hospital transfer and treatment times.

For more information about the STEMI Receiving Center at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, please visit http://www.glendaleadventist.com/cardiac-emergency-services or call (818) 409-8100.