Cardiac surgery department at JMCGH honored with high rating – The Jackson Sun

Brandon Shields, Jackson Sun Published 11:32 a.m. CT Feb. 13, 2020

Sun file photo of Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.(Photo: File-Katie Brake)

West Tennessee Healthcare celebratedthe fact that its heart surgery program received a three-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).

This is a very high honor for our heart surgery department that we havent had for a number of years now, said Deann Thelan, the chief executive officer of Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. It shows how much work our surgeons put into their practice, and theyll be the tell you its not just them.

Everyone involved in the process from when the patient is admitted to prep to post-op recovery and even recovery care after theyve left care in the hospital this is an honor for the entire team.

STS evaluates every heart surgery department in the United States and Canada through a process conducted by Duke University.

We input all of our information from every heart surgery patient into a database the STS administrates, and Duke harvests that data and measures complication rates and moralities all the way through post-op, intra-operation and even after they go home, Thelan said.

The study not only measures outcomes but also care that leads to those outcomes to give each department its rating.

Two departments in Tennessee received three stars, and between 6 and 10 percent of departments in North America reach that status.

Our surgeons will say its a complete team effort and not just them, Thelan said. ICU, intraoperative staff, clinical staff, discharge everyone thats involved in providing care for patients contributed to this honor for our department.

Thelan said the department cares for 400-500 patients a year, and it doesnt take much to knock a department out of contention for three stars.

A department can lose the ability for a three-star rating with one mistake, and sustaining that status for a long period of time is very difficult, Thelan said. But were confident of receiving another three-star status for the second half of 2019.

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.

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Cardiac surgery department at JMCGH honored with high rating - The Jackson Sun