Glendale Adventist Making Changes

Glendale Adventist Medical Center has been undergoing changes, making advances for chest pain care in order to receive new accreditation and getting started with its new research department. The hospital has been boosting its cardiac care for its patients as it seeks accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers, which it expects to receive early next year. Dr. Thanh Nguyen, medical director for the hospitals’ Chest Pain Center, said hospitals’ staff has been working for the past 12 to 16 months to complete the necessary paperwork and meet all the clinical requirements of accreditation. One requirement was to have chest pain patients receive EKGs, or tests that check for problems with electrical activity in the heart, within 10 minutes of arrival to the emergency room. “Our time has come down from roughly around 15 to 20 minutes down to about five minutes,” he said. “That probably wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have a chest pain criterion in mind.” The center has also implemented the 10-minute time limit for inpatients who develop chest pain and might be experiencing heart attacks and developed a chest pain rapid response team. “It’s part of the Adventist Health system trying to be better ourselves to help the community,” he said. Glendale Adventist has also been moving forward in its research efforts. The hospital formed its Department of Clinical Research in early October and expects to begin working on its first project within the next couple of weeks. The types of research supported by the department will include sponsored trials, such as pharmaceutical or biotechnology studies; investigator-initiated trials; National Institutes of Health and government grants; collaborative group trials; device trials; and studies initiated by the hospital. –Jessica Vernabe