Spotlight on Union Hospital

Hospital Has a New Sleep Center and is Now an Accredited Chest Pain Center

By Jenn Diamond

Over the past year, Union Hospital, a member of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, has become an accredited chest pain center and opened a sleep center.

These are just a few of the hospital’s recent initiatives aimed at improving the community’s access to quality health care. In fact, The Star-Ledger and The New York Times recently reported that Union Hospital ranks in the top 25 percent of hospitals in
the nation for the care of patients suffering from heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, based on data collected by the federal Department of Health and Human
Services.

Recognized by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Union Hospital remains committed to providing its patients with the highest quality medical care possible.

“Our message to the community for 2006 is that Union hospital is going strong,” says Jim Masterson, vice president of human resources and community relations at Union Hospital. “Although all hospitals face the challenges of providing the best services under financial constraints, the story of Union Hospital has always been one of us rising to meet those challenges. We’ve done it for more than 60 years as a community hospital and we’ll continue to draw on that spirit to offer more and more programs and services to the people who depend on us.”

ACCREDITED CHEST PAIN CENTER
In 2005, Union Hospital became one of seven acute care hospitals in the Saint Barnabas Health Care system to be granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center.

“This is a wonderful honor and a true reflection of our system’s collaborative approach to better manage the early treatment of acute coronary disease while optimizing quality care and positive hospital outcomes,” says Ronald J. Del Mauro, president and chief executive officer of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. “It sets our emergency department apart as the place to go in the state for anyone experiencing chest pain.”

The key to successful outcomes is a prompt evaluation, “We can better evaluate patients when it is not yet clear whether they are having a coronary event,” explains Gary Rogal, M.D., chief of cardiology for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. “This evaluation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly
admitted. For those patients who are having a coronary event, we can more rapidly diagnose and treat them, ensuring that they are appropriately cared for.”

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. The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers 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.

Achieving this prestigious designation means that the Saint Barnabas Health Care System hospitals have met the stringent standards required by the Society of Chest Pain Centers. The approach to patient management enables physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective.

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