CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, Arkansas, has been recognized as one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Premier, Inc., with results published by Modern Healthcare. The hospital was ranked 12th among teaching hospitals without a residency program and is the only hospital in Arkansas to make the list.
The selection process for the list involved an objective analysis of publicly available data to identify leading cardiovascular hospitals across the United States. The program aims to provide benchmarks that help hospital leaders understand performance differences and improve heart care nationwide. Participation is not application-based, and recognized hospitals do not pay for this distinction.
“CHI St. Vincent has always been a leader in cardiovascular healthcare in Arkansas,” said Dr. William G. Jones, President at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary. “To see our cardiac teams recognized on a national level like this is truly special. My congratulations and deep gratitude go to all of the doctors, nurses, leaders and everyone on the cardiovascular care teams who come to work every day to make a big difference for our patients.”
Hospitals included in the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals delivered better results than peers across 21 measures such as clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, extended outcomes, and patient experience.
Some key findings from the national analysis include:
– A significant difference in inpatient mortality rates for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures between benchmark hospitals (0.43) and peer hospitals (0.99).
– For surgical complication rates between CABG and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) groups, PCI outperformed CABG by 10 percent.
– The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Care Compare 30-day mortality measure for CABG patients showed a notable gap between benchmark (2.1) and peer hospitals (2.5).
– Heart failure patient group costs were nearly 20 percent lower at top-performing hospitals compared to peers.
According to study estimates, if all U.S. hospitals matched these top performers’ levels of care, over 14,000 additional lives could be saved annually; more than 27,000 bypass and angioplasty patients might avoid complications; and potential savings could exceed $2 billion.
“Cardiovascular care is one of the most complex and impactful service lines in healthcare,” said David Zito, President of Performance Services at Premier. “The 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals program highlights organizations delivering strong outcomes while providing hospital leaders with meaningful benchmarks to help improve care.”
The study uses quantitative research based on publicly available data with a balanced scorecard approach focused on short-term acute care nonfederal U.S. hospitals treating diverse cardiology patients—including those needing medical management or invasive procedures like open heart surgery.
CHI St. Vincent is part of CommonSpirit Health—a nonprofit Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people—and serves Arkansas through primary care clinics, specialty services, urgent care centers, home health programs, rehabilitation facilities and surgery centers statewide since its founding in 1888.
U.S. News & World Report ranks CHI St. Vincent as No. 1 in Central Arkansas for cardiology as well as heart and vascular surgery while rating it highly performing in several other specialties including abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and colon cancer surgery.
Chi Memorial Hospital Georgia also forms part of CommonSpirit Health according to its official website, operating three hospitals alongside numerous outpatient imaging centers and more than sixty-five care sites. The institution has received recognition from leading organizations for its commitment to quality and patient safety as noted online. Janelle Reilly serves as president of Chi Memorial Hospital Georgia.
