The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has recognized Centra Lynchburg General Hospital (LGH) with the 2025 Chest Pain – MI Registry™ Platinum Performance Achievement Award for excellence in treating patients with chest pain and acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
The hospital received Chest Pain Center Accreditation in June following a rigorous on-site evaluation of its staff’s ability to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients experiencing heart attack symptoms. Since 2012, LGH has earned platinum status, the highest level of recognition, 10 times.
The Chest Pain – MI Registry™ award program honors hospitals that demonstrate sustained, top-tier performance in quality care and adherence to ACC clinical guidelines. Participating hospitals engage in a robust quality improvement process, using real-time data to enhance care and improve patient outcomes. Hospitals earning a 2025 Performance Achievement Award will be featured in an ACC insert in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” guidebook.
Centra Lynchburg General Hospital was awarded the Platinum Performance Achievement level for meeting or exceeding performance measures related to early intervention, door-in-door-out times, reperfusion therapy, cardiac rehabilitation referral and more.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 730,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. National guidelines recommend that “door-to-balloon” time—the interval from a patient’s arrival at the hospital to inflation of a balloon in the cardiac catheterization lab—should be 90 minutes or less. LGH averages just 38 minutes, placing it among the fastest hospitals in the country for heart attack treatment.
ACC-accredited Chest Pain Centers demonstrate exceptional competency in treating patients with heart attack symptoms. These hospitals streamline care from admission through diagnosis, treatment, discharge, and follow-up, including lifestyle recommendations to reduce future risk.
“The American College of Cardiology Chest Pain–MI Platinum Performance Achievement Award recognizes Centra as among the highest-quality health systems for cardiac care,” said Dr. Peter O’Brien, medical director of Centra’s Stroobants Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. “But heart attack care is a team sport, and none of this would be possible without true collaboration between EMS, the cardiac catheterization lab, the emergency department, and all of our caregivers who support these patients every day.”
O’Brien, also a co-founder of the Virginia Heart Attack Coalition, is a strong advocate for early intervention and EMS collaboration. “Every minute saves heart muscle, which ultimately saves lives,” he said.
Centra began partnering with regional EMS agencies in the early 2000s, equipping vehicles with electrocardiography (EKG) machines to diagnose heart attacks en route. The technology enables EMS teams to transmit EKG results ahead to hospital staff, allowing immediate treatment upon arrival.
“To earn platinum this many years is remarkable and speaks to the impact we have on individual lives in our community,” said James Bryant, RN, vice president of emergency services at Centra. “A lot of lives have been saved because of this process, especially in a relatively rural area of Virginia.”
“From EMS to the cardiac catheterization lab, to the critical care unit and rehab, it’s a team process,” said Cindi Cole, RN, senior director of quality and clinical care at Centra’s Stroobants Cardiology Center.
