Hospital Headlines

United Way Pacesetters

In October, Boone Health hosted representatives from 29 organizations that have together raised $1,552,141 this year for Heart of Missouri United Way. Pacesetter organizations meet high standards for employee participation and donation goals. Of this year’s Pacesetters, Boone Health contributed the largest amount with $85,000.

This is the 25th year in a row that Boone has hosted the Pacesetter Breakfast.

Boone Heart Surgery Team Achieves Milestone

Boone Health Heart Surgery recently completed their 600th TAVR procedure at Boone Hospital. The team includes Richard Mellitt, MD, Joss Fermamdez, MD and colleagues at Missouri Heart Center, including Trung Tran, MD, Michael Brown, MD, Sudhi Tyagi, MD and Steven MacKay, DO.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive surgery to replace a narrowed aortic valve and restore blood flow from the heart to the body. This procedure presents a safer option for patients who are not good candidates for open heart surgery, including older patients, and has a shorter recovery period.

Boone began performing TAVRs in January 2016 and was the first hospital in Missouri to receive TVT accreditation from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) for transcatheter valve replacement and repair procedures. According to the ACC, “TAVR has become the standard of care for patients with symptomatic heart disease due to severe native calcific aortic stenosis who are judged by a Heart Team, including a cardiac surgeon, to be at intermediate or greater risk for open surgical therapy.”

U.S. News & World ReportNames Boone Hospital Among Best Hospitals for 2023-2024

Boone Hospital Center has been named the #1 hospital in mid-Missouri and #7 hospital in the state of Missouri by U.S. News & World Report in its 2023-2024 Best Hospitals report. Boone has held the top spot in mid-Missouri since 2015.

U.S. News evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals across 15 specialties and 21 procedures and conditions; only 12% of evaluated hospitals earned a Best Hospitals ranking. Hospitals awarded a “Best” designation excelled at factors such as clinical outcomes, level of nursing care and patient experience.

Hospitals are ranked from 1 to 50 in each specialty, with only 10% of all rated hospitals receiving a designation of “high performing.”

Boone Hospital Center ranked “high performing” in abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, back surgery, colon cancer surgery, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, prostate cancer surgery, and stroke.

Boone Heart Team Receives Distinguished Rating From The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Boone Hospital Center has earned a distinguished three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) surgery and isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places Boone Health among the elite for AVR surgery and for CABG in the United States and Canada. This is also an improved rating for isolated AVR –Boone Health last received a three-star rating for this procedure in 2022.

The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs in the United States and Canada. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by an STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participant.

Historically, approximately 4%–8% of participants receive the three-star rating for isolated AVR surgery, and approximately 20% of participants receive the three-star rating for isolated CABG surgery.

Boone Health also received twostar ratings for CABG with AVR and isolated mitral valve replacement and repair (MVRR).

Boone Health Recognized for Its Care for Heart Attacks

Boone Health has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® NSTEMI Gold achievement award for its commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to people experiencing a specific type of heart attack known as a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).

It also received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® STEMI Receiving Center Gold recognition for its commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to people experiencing an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a type of heart attack known to be more severe and dangerous than other types of heart attacks.

Mission: Lifeline is the American Heart Association’s national initiative to advance the system of care for patients with high-risk, time-sensitive disease states, such as heart attacks. The program helps reduce barriers to prompt treatment for heart attacks – starting from when 911 is called, to EMS transport and continuing through hospital treatment and discharge. Optimal care for heart attack patients takes coordination between the individual hospital, EMS and health care system.

“When someone experiences a heart attack, American Heart Association guidelines call for specific actions in the hospital, as well as appropriate medications and cardiac rehab activities following a hospital stay,” said James G. Jollis MD, volunteer for the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Coronary Artery Disease Systems of Care Advisory Work Group and cardiologist with The Christ Hospital Physicians –Heart & Vascular in Cincinnati. “Organizations like Boone Health are recognized for consistently providing patients with guidance, medication and rehabilitation opportunities that give the patient the best chance of preventing another cardiac event.”

The Mission: Lifeline achievement award is earned by hospitals that demonstrate a commitment to treating patients according to the most up-to-date research-based guidelines for heart attack care as outlined by the American Heart Association.