Suburban Hospital Recognized As One of 17 Hospitals in the Nation with “Better than the National Average Mortality Rates” for Heart Attack

BETHESDA, Md. (June 22, 2007) – Suburban Hospital has been recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) through a survey conducted by the Hospital Quality Alliance as one of 17 hospitals in the nation with better than the national average mortality rates for heart attack.

Suburban is the only hospital in Maryland and the Washington DC metropolitan area recognized for above average performance in treating heart attacks. Government officials scored the 4,700 hospitals nationwide and found that most performed at the national average when it came to their patient mortality rates. Only 55 hospitals scored better than the national average for both heart attack and heart failure measures, and dozens were included as performing worse.    

The Hospital Quality Alliance is a public-private collaboration to improve the quality of care provided by the nation's hospitals by measuring and publicly reporting on the care, and the report card results can be viewed on CMS’ Hospital Compare web site (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov). This is the most recent report made available to consumers to measure the quality of care, and the first to measure mortality at individual hospitals across the country.

“Breakthrough research at the NIH Heart Center at Suburban Hospital allows our patients quick and seamless access to technology, techniques and treatments found in very few healthcare settings,” said Brian Gragnolati, president and chief executive officer for the Suburban Hospital. “In addition to our state-of-the-art cardiac surgery and angioplasty, Suburban’s Heart Center provides training for the next generation of cardiac surgeons and cardiologists, contributing to improvements in the treatment of cardiac disease worldwide.

Opened in 2006, the new NIH Heart Center at Suburban Hospital is a collaboration with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins Medicine. “The Center and its staff are focused on providing high quality, patient-centric care, while at the same time, conducting innovative research for the treatment and prevention of heart disease,” said Keith Horvath, M.D., director of cardiothoracic surgery and research at Suburban Hospital.      

The NIH Heart Center at Suburban Hospital complements a broad range of existing cardiac programs at Suburban Hospital – from emergency/trauma care to state-of-the-art cardiac diagnostics and rehabilitation – which, over the years, have helped thousands of patients recover from heart disease.

Suburban Hospital is a not-for-profit, community-owned hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, that has served Montgomery County for more than 60 years. Suburban Hospital is distinguished by a cutting-edge stroke program; level II trauma center; centers of excellence in cardiac care, orthopedics and joint replacement surgery, neurosciences and oncology; state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment tools; and affiliations with world-class institutions, including the neighboring National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins Medicine. www.suburbanhospital.org

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