Heart and Vascular program at Charlton Memorial in Fall River receives prestigious recognition

FALL RIVER, Mass. – Southcoast Health officials announced today that the Heart and Vascular program at Charlton Memorial Hospital has earned a distinguished 3-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons STS for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting CABG procedures.

“It is extraordinary for a community hospital like ours to earn a 3-star rating in this category,” said Iraklis Gerogiannis, MD, MBA, FACS, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Southcoast Health. “This is the first time in its 22-year history that our program has earned this recognition and it is a true testament to the incredible team and comprehensive program we have built.”

Surgeons use CABG procedures to treat patients with coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease in the United States. This procedure is one way to treat blocked areas in the arteries of the heart by creating new pathways for blood to flow to the heart. It can help prevent heart attacks, alleviate symptoms such as chest pain, improve heart function and prolong life expectancy.

The 3-star rating, which denotes the highest level of quality, places Southcoast Health among the best programs in the United States and Canada. Only five other hospitals across the region have earned this esteemed designation, and Southcoast Health is the only non-academic community hospital in Massachusetts on the list.  

“This designation is based simply on our patient outcomes, and the fact that the data were collected during the three years following the COVID-19 pandemic makes this accomplishment even more admirable,” Dr. Gerogiannis added. The latest analysis of data for CABG surgery covers the period from January 2021 to December 2023 and includes 1,150 participants. Only about 20% of participants receive the 3-star rating for isolated CABG surgery.

“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who have received 3-star ratings,” said David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. “Participation in the Database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and provides patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about their healthcare.”

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

“This recognition reaffirms that we are a nationally recognized leader in all cardiovascular services,” said Peter Cohn, MD, Physician-in-Chief of Southcoast Health Heart and Vascular. “I am incredibly proud of this team and our commitment to clinical excellence. Because of the advancements we have made together over the last 20 years, we are able to provide our community with world-class cardiovascular care, eliminating the need to travel to larger cities for complex procedures and advanced treatment options.”

The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. The Database includes four components: the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), the Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD), the General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD), and the mechanical circulatory support database (Intermacs). The STS ACSD houses approximately 6.9 million surgical records and gathers information from more than 3,800 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists from more than 90% of groups that perform heart surgery in the US. STS public reporting online enables STS ACSD participants to voluntarily report to each other and the public their heart surgery scores and star ratings.