WESTWOOD—The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center was awarded the Get with The Guidelines Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association for its outstanding treatment of patients with heart failure. The UCLA Medical Center received this award on November 14 during the American Heart Association’s 2011 Scientific Sessions.

The Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital. Photo courtesy of the official website.

In the Get with The Guidelines Heart Failure treatment agenda, heart failure patients are given aggressive mortality reduction therapies such as beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors. The purpose of this program is to assist hospital personnel with acute and secondary prevention guidelines. The program also provides hospitals with a web-based patient management tool, decision support, robust registry as well as real time benchmarking capabilities.

According to statistics from the American Heart Association, 5.7 million people suffer from heart failure. Also that every year approximately 670,000 new cases are found and more than 292,200 people will die from heart failure, according to the UCLA Medical Center website, uclahealth.org.

The signs and symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath, persistent coughing or wheezing, tiredness, fatigue, lack of appetite, nausea, disorientation, confusion and lastly an increased heart rate. Treatments for heart failure may include a change in lifestyle, medications, surgery, or any ongoing care with a personal caregiver. The best way to stay healthy is to follow a physician’s recommendation for a healthier life.

The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center was named one of America’s 50 best hospitals by Becker’s Hospital Review for its quality care in patients. 

The Ronald Reagan Medical Center is just one of the many medical buildings that is a part of the UCLA Health System.

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