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CMH earns national award for excellence in heart attack care
Citizens Memorial Hospital has received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain-MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2025. CMH is one of only 323 hospitals nationwide and one of 11 in Missouri to receive the honor.
CMH and Cox Medical Center in Branson are the only hospitals in southwest Missouri recognized with the award.
The distinction highlights CMH’s commitment to delivering a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. It confirms that CMH meets nationally recognized treatment guidelines established by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
“This award reflects the outstanding care patients receive at CMH," said Michael Calhoun, CEO and executive director of CMH and the CMH Foundation. “Our heart attack patients receive the same exceptional treatment as those in bigger hospitals. This consistency helps patients in our rural communities get safe, high-quality care close to home.”
CMH earned the award by demonstrating strong results in the Chest Pain-MI Registry for two consecutive years, 2023 and 2024, and excelling in key performance measures. The hospital uses a data-driven approach to improve guideline adherence and overall quality of care.
“This award indicates that CMH remains committed to providing top-quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients,” said Michael C. Kontos, M.D., FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain-MI Registry Steering Subcommittee and cardiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 800,000 Americans experience a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot blocks blood flow to the heart muscle, either partially or completely, in a coronary artery.
Treatment guidelines to improve patient outcomes include:
- Giving aspirin when patients arrive and at discharge.
- Quickly restoring blood flow to the blocked artery.
- Offering smoking cessation counseling.
- Referring patients to cardiac rehabilitation.
The Chest Pain-MI Registry supports health care teams in treating heart attack patients using the most current, science-based guidelines. The registry sets a national standard for improving the quality and safety of care for patients with coronary artery disease.
