Sanford USD Medical Center Recognized Among Nation’s Top Hospitals for Heart Attack Care
Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2025. Sanford USD Medical Center is one of only 323 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.
The award recognizes Sanford Health’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Sanford USD Medical Center has reached 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.
To receive the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Sanford USD Medical Center has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024) and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.
“It is an honor to award Sanford USD Medical Center with the Platinum Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Sanford Health remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.
“Sanford Health’s number one priority is patient care and this award exemplifies our team’s diligence and attention to detail toward our cardiovascular patients,” said Bridget O’Brien-Johnson, vice president, operations, heart & vascular. “The quality and consistency of our team at Sanford USD Medical Center is second to none and that’s a testament to our providers and our leadership. We are grateful to the American College of Cardiology once again for this prestigious honor.”
Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.
For more information about Sanford Health, visit sanfordhealth.org.
