Four Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) hospitals have been reaccredited as emergency cardiac care centers (ECCC).
NGMC Gainesville was reaccredited as a Level 1 ECCC, while NGMC Braselton was reaccredited as Level 2. NGMC Barrow and NGMC Lumpkin were reaccredited as Level 3.
NGMC Habersham, which NGHS recently acquired, has begun the process of ECCC accreditation, says a health system spokesperson.
Hospitals seeking ECCC accreditation undergo a thorough evaluation process, including a site inspection and an assessment of emergency cardiac care processes and equipment. Once these steps are complete, the Georgia Department of Public Health 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.
In 2020, NGHS made history by becoming the first health system in the state with hospitals receiving the ECCC designation.
The head of cardiac care for NGHS says the reaccreditation is proof of the system’s dedication to “caring for the hearts of this region.”
“Our teams work hard each and every day to ensure every patient who comes in with heart attack or cardiac arrest symptoms is able to leave the hospital feeling better than when they arrived,” says Dr. Habib Samady, interventional cardiologist and president of the health system’s Georgia Heart Institute.
