UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center Recognized Among Nation’s Leading Hospitals for Heart Attack Care

Brian Carmichael with Trinity Cardiac Rehab team

UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2025. Trinity Regional Medical Center is among 323 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

The award recognizes Trinity Regional Medical Center’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Trinity Regional 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.

Brian Carmichael with nurse, Heidi L., at Trinity Cardiac Rehab

To receive the Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Trinity Regional Medical Center has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain  ̶   MI Registry for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024) and performed at the highest 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.

“Trinity Regional Medical Center is honored to be recognized with the Platinum Performance Award for our leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in heart attack care,” says Leah Glasgo, President of UnityPoint Health – Fort Dodge. “The receipt of this award for the sixth year in a row demonstrates our teams commitment to providing the highest quality cardiovascular care to our patients and our community.”

Trinity Regional Medical Center is one of nine UnityPoint Health hospitals that received performance achievement awards from the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain  ̶  MI Registry for 2025. UnityPoint Health – Fort Dodge is committed to caring for patients across the cardiac care continuum including the emergency department, hospital inpatient setting, procedures as well as outpatient ambulatory care at the Trinity Heart Center. In the past nine months, Trinity Heart Center has cared for 3,167 new patients, scheduled 5,975 appointments and recently welcomed three new, full-time providers. They also provide care at outreach clinics in Humboldt, Pocahontas and Sac City.

“We are thrilled to offer high-quality heart care to the communities we serve and to provide an exceptional patient experience,” said Kelli Wallace, MD, UnityPoint Health – Fort Dodge Chief Medical Officer. “We know how much it means to have this level of care close to home and we are thankful for these awards that show we are the right choice for treating heart attacks.”

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 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.

At 67 years of age, Brian Carmichael, of Manson, says he feels 50 again—thanks to the coordinated care he received through UnityPoint Health locations in Manson, Fort Dodge and Waterloo. Carmichael recently started managing his Type 2 Diabetes with support from Trinity Diabetes Center. But after a fall led to the discovery of a major heart blockage, his journey took an unexpected turn. A telemedicine visit with Dmitry Gorelik, MD, Cardiologist at the Trinity Heart Center, followed by an angiogram with Joe Cookman, DO, Interventional Cardiologist, revealed he needed open-heart surgery. Within days, Bhavik Patel, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgeon at UnityPoint Health – Allen Hospital in Waterloo, performed a successful quadruple bypass.

“The care I had was just absolutely outstanding,” says Carmichael. “From the first appointment to cardiac rehab, every person I met made me feel safe, respected and hopeful. I just want to thank them for saving my life. It’s as simple as that.”

Stories like Brian’s showcase the excellence and compassion that earned UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center this prestigious recognition.

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.

More information on heart and vascular care at UnityPoint Health can be found on our website, www.unitypoint.org/find-a-service/heart-care.