Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC) was recently designated as a Level II Emergency Cardiac Care Center (ECCC) by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), Office of EMS and Trauma.

The Georgia Department of Public Health’s Office of Cardiac Care aims to improve survival rates in Georgia through quality improvement, benchmarking and evidence-based guidelines, supported by standardized data collection and reporting system. The foundation for the evaluation of the Emergency Cardiac Care System in Georgia is the establishment and maintenance of the cardiac registry, and the designation of TRMC as an ECCC Level II, and other similar designations, is a way that this is accomplished.

Healthcare organizations seeking the ECCC designation by the Georgia Department of Health undergo a thorough evaluation process. Once the evaluation process is complete, the Georgia DPH uses a three-level designation system to rank the capabilities of each facility:

· Level 1 hospitals perform open heart surgery and interventional cardiac catheterizations.
· Level 2 hospitals perform interventional cardiac catheterizations.
· Level 3 hospitals stabilize patients until they are transported to a Level 1 or Level 2 center.

“We are incredibly proud of our staff here at Tift Regional Medical Center for making this happen,” said Alex Le, Chief Operating Officer for Southwell.

“This designation speaks to the level of care we are able to provide to our patients that may be having a heart attack,” said Laura Fiveash, Assistant VP of Procedural Services with Southwell.

To learn more about cardiac care at Tift Regional Medical Center, visit https://mysouthwell.com/heart-and-vascular.