St. Mary’s Participates in Heart Care Collaborative
Program offers hospital access to leading-edge therapies, research

Richmond, Va. (September 30, 2003) – Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital has been named a “Quality Associate” in the Heart Care Collaborative Initiative by the Virginia Health Quality Center (VHQC). As a result of its participation in this program, St. Mary’s is benefiting from nationally acclaimed clinical experts who provide the latest national guidelines and interventions to help St. Mary’s improve its therapies for patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and/or heart failure (HF).

Throughout 2003, a team of cardiac physicians and staff has been participating in learning sessions and monthly teleconferences, where clinical experts deliver presentations on a variety of topics relating to heart care. The St. Mary’s team is taking the lessons learned from these sessions and applying them to actual patient care and therapies at St. Mary’s Hospital.

“This program is enabling St. Mary’s to continue to deliver the highest quality of care and therapies to our patients who suffer from heart conditions,” says Michael K. Kerner, executive vice president and administrator, Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital. “We see this program as a means to strengthen our heart care program which is already improving the lives of many patients who rely on our Cardiac Wellness Center for solutions to their heart care needs.”

In addition to its participation in the VHQC program, St. Mary’s operates a Cardiac Wellness Center, which is one of eight sites nationwide participating in a Medicare Lifestyle Modification Program Demonstration affiliated with the Mind/Body Medical Institute, where patients can receive supervised exercise, nutritional counseling, stress management and group support to help reduce the risk of a cardiac event.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States; in Virginia, it is the cause for 20,000 deaths each year. Eighty-five percent of coronary heart disease related deaths occur in individuals age 65 or older. Heart failure affects 1 to 2 million United States citizens, with about 80 percent over age 65. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in the elderly.

Established in 1984, the Virginia Health Quality Center (VHQC) is a health care quality improvement organization that partners with Virginia's health care community to improve patient care for Virginia's 913,886 Medicare beneficiaries in all health care settings, including hospitals, physician offices, nursing homes and home health agencies. Through a contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the VHQC serves as the federally designated quality improvement organization for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHQC provides quality improvement assistance to Virginia's acute care hospitals and more than 700 physicians in a number of clinical topics such as heart failure, pneumonia, stroke, breast cancer and diabetes.

Bon Secours Richmond Health System includes three award-winning hospitals, numerous outpatient and diagnostic facilities, physician groups and a school of nursing. A fourth hospital, the 130-bed St. Francis Medical Center, is under construction in Chesterfield County and scheduled to open in June 2005.

Recognized for a fifth consecutive year by Working Mother magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers,” Bon Secours Richmond Health System offers excellent childcare benefits, flexible working hours, work/life benefits and career advancement opportunities. In 2003, Bon Secours Richmond was named one of America’s Healthiest Companies by the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA) and on AARP’s top 25 companies for workers over age 50.

Bon Secours Richmond is a member of Bon Secours Health System, Inc., a national Catholic health care system with a healing ministry that serves 15 communities in nine states throughout the eastern United States. More information on Bon Secours Richmond is available on the Internet at www.bonsecours.com.

For more information, contact Jody Challen (804) 627-5032
Bon Secours Richmond Public Relations