Texas Health Frisco Enhancing Heart Attack Care in Collin and Denton Counties

FRISCO, Texas - For the first time, Texas Health Hospital Frisco has earned Primary Heart Attack Center certification* from Joint Commission, offered in collaboration with the American Heart Association. Texas Health Frisco is one of less than 30 hospitals in the state to receive the prestigious distinction.

"We focus on illness prevention, health education and providing patients with evidence-based care," said Tiffany Northern, FACHE, Texas Health Frisco president. "That mindset factors into how our care team addresses the needs of Frisco residents and beyond."

Patients and families often are taken by surprise when a loved one has a heart attack, said David Wolf, M.S.N., R.N., CNL, Quality Improvement coordinator for Texas Health Frisco.

"It can be a scary time for patients having a heart attack, but we're ready to help during a critical time in their lives," Wolf said. "This certification further demonstrates that we're providing excellent care to patients suffering from chest pains to life-threatening heart attacks."

Earning national certification means more than just meeting the criteria, especially when you consider that every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a heart attack, said Sunita Koshy-Nesbitt, M.D., MBA, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist.

"Texas Health Frisco is our sixth facility to earn the certification, and we applaud the work that they have done," said Koshy-Nesbitt, who also serves as Texas Health's Hospital Channel chief quality officer and as chief medical and quality officer for Texas Health Physicians Group**. Texas Health hospitals in Bedford, Mansfield, Plano, and two in Fort Worth also have the certification.

"It reflects how Texas Health is meeting the needs of North Texans where they live," she added. "Because the heart is damaged more each minute that a heart attack is happening, we collaborate closely with EMS, emergency rooms and urgent care providers, to improve the outcomes for patients timely and efficiently."

To learn how Texas Health is advancing heart and vascular care throughout North Texas, click here.

*Joint Commission partnered with the American Heart Association to develop different cardiac certification levels to represent the services an organization can provide for patients experiencing chest pain related to acute coronary syndrome (ACS), including ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Primary Heart Attack Centers provide primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) services for STEMI patients 24 hours a day and receive referrals from other facilities.

**Providers employed by Texas Health Physicians Group are not employees or agents of Texas Health Resources hospitals.