New Hanover Regional Medical Center was recently recognized for care of heart attack patients with two awards from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.

The awards were conferred for the second year in a row, hospital spokeswoman Erin Balzotti said in a news release.

The hospital received the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR Action Registry-GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award.

NHRMC is one of only 164 hospitals in the nation to be given the recognition, Balzotti said.

The award “recognizes New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that NHRMC’s Heart Center has maintained an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations,” Balzotti said in the statement.

NHRMC was also awarded the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Silver Quality Achievement Award for the hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients that effectively improves the survival and care of STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) patients.

The hospital was considered on nine quality measures, including whether eligible patients were given reperfusion therapy within the recommended time, whether patients were given aspirin on arrival and whether patients who smoke were given smoking cessation counseling on discharge.

NHRMC was assigned a score on each of the measures and maintained a score of 85 percent or greater over a designated period of time in order to achieve the Silver Quality Achievement designation. 

NHRMC’s Code STEMI program works with paramedics and hospitals throughout the region to identify when someone is having a STEMI heart attack so the emergency and cardiac team can be readied at NHRMC, and the patient can quickly get to intervention in the cardiac catheterization lab.

“Getting a patient with a heart attack to treatment quickly is a high priority because when a heart attack begins, it’s only a matter of time before permanent damage is done to the heart muscles,” Balzotti said.

The national benchmark for getting STEMI patients to intervention is 90 minutes. The average time at NHRMC’s Heart Center is 48 minutes.

“We are honored to have received these two awards,” David Parks, vice president of cardiac services at the hospital, said in the news release.

Parks said the awards “recognize the impressive work done by our physicians and staff to continually improve the care we provide our patients.

“We also appreciate the work of our partners in the region, who have worked with us on standard protocols to ensure every patient gets the care they need when they need it,” Parks said.

The hospital’s Heart Center is home to 29 cardiologists and three cardiovascular surgeons who perform more than 550 surgical procedures and 12,000 diagnostic procedures each year.

The Heart Center is the only facility in southeastern North Carolina to perform heart surgery and is among the state’s leaders in cardiac care, Balzotti said.

Dosher Memorial names new hospital head

Tom Siemers has been named Dosher Memorial Hospital’s new hospital administrator. Siemers, who takes the place of retiring hospital CEO Edgar Haywood III, will assume his new duties Nov. 5 at the Southport hospital.

Haywood’s last day is Nov. 2.

Siemers, a Maine resident, was most recently CEO of Ottumwa Regional Health Center in Ottumwa, Iowa. Dosher’s board of trustees chose Siemers for the post. He has nearly 20 years of experience as a hospital CEO, officials said.

“We now look forward to Mr. Siemers joining Dosher in early November, and are anxious to welcome him to the community and to the hospital,” hospital spokesman Kirk Singer said in a news release.

During his tenure, Haywood presided over significant growth at Dosher, a 100-bed community hospital.

“Under his leadership the hospital has accomplished a lot of great things, including a major, ‘like-new’ renovation of the hospital,” Singer said.

While Haywood was CEO of Dosher, the facility added a 64-bed skilled nursing facility recently named one of the nation’s top nursing homes. He presided over the establishment of a surgical program that includes orthopaedic and total joint replacement services, Singer said.

Haywood also initiated a hospital LEAN initiative “to help eliminate waste in hospital processes and to enhance the hospital experience of our patients,” Singer said.

“These are just a few of the many accomplishments our hospital has experienced under Mr. Haywood’s 20 years of leadership. His presence will be missed,” Singer said.

As CEO of Ottumwa Regional Health Center, Siemers provided leadership for the 217-bed hospital and associated hospital facilities, including a 148-bed retirement center, a cancer center, home health agency and employed-physician practices.

Siemers previously served as CEO for the Rebsamen Medical Center in Jacksonville, Ark.; and Monroe County Medical Center in Tompkinsville, Ky.

Siemers has a master’s degree in hospital and health administration from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.