Hartford HealthCare's St. Vincent's Medical Center Earns the Prestigious John D. Thompson Award

CHA Awards Hartford HealthCare's St. Vincent's Medical Center for its Initiative to Decrease in-Hospital Mortality Rates for PCI Patients

FAIRFIELD, Conn., July 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hartford HealthCare's St. Vincent's Medical Center is proud to receive the Connecticut Hospital Association's (CHA) 2025 John D. Thompson Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Healthcare Through the Use of Data. The St. Vincent's Medical Center team was presented with the award at the 2025 CHA Annual Meeting, held on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at the Bristol Event Center in Bristol, Connecticut.

"At Hartford HealthCare, we are committed to delivering exceptional patient care, improving clinical outcomes, ensuring patient safety, and fostering health equity," said William M. Jennings, Senior Vice President at Hartford HealthCare and President of the Hartford HealthCare Fairfield Region. "This work is a tangible, measurable definition of our mission coming to life. Because of the team's initiative to decrease in-hospital mortality rates for PCI patients, more people are living a longer, healthier life."

Using national registry data to drive quality improvement that integrates evidence-based care and best practices, Hartford HealthCare's St. Vincent's Medical Center undertook a multi-specialty, multi-disciplinary, and system-wide approach to decrease percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) mortality, particularly in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) heart attack, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), and cardiogenic shock.

"This award could not better exemplify who we are," said Jeffrey A. Flaks, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hartford HealthCare.  "We aspire to be the best at getting better – continuously challenging ourselves and disrupting the status quo. This extraordinary achievement can only happen when a dedicated team has a singular focus – ensuring patients have access to world-class healthcare in Connecticut."

Patients with STEMI, OHCA, and cardiogenic shock represent some of the highest-risk populations undergoing PCI, with national in-hospital mortality rates ranging from 5% in STEMI to 40-50% in cardiogenic shock.  Hartford HealthCare's Heart & Vascular Institute at St. Vincent's Medical Center recognized that improving outcomes in these complex cases would require a multidisciplinary, data-driven, and systems-based strategy. Treatment times, coordination between transferring hospitals, pre-hospital activation, and use of advanced circulatory support were all identified as areas where enhancements could lead to measurable improvements in survival.

The implementation of the initiative has led to a decline in the percentage of patients experiencing major complications (major adverse events measured for all PCI patients), an increased percentage of STEMI patients receiving PCI within 90 minutes of EMS first medical contact, reduced time from emergency department arrival to EKG completion for STEMI patients, and a significant decrease in door-to-balloon time (median time from hospital arrival to PCI).

A hallmark of this project has been the formation of key multidisciplinary teams and councils that foster shared decision-making and a standardized approach to care.  The three groups formed are:

• The Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) Council: Brings together key stakeholders from across the entire health system (e.g., cardiac catheterization lab (CCL), emergency department (ED), clinical cardiology, administrative personnel). This council has met quarterly to apply the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment guidelines and standardized care across the system
• High-Risk Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (CHIP) Program: Consists of a multidisciplinary (cardiac catheterization, cardiac surgery, advanced heart failure, clinical cardiology, anesthesia) team that meets as needed to make recommendations on the choice of optimal revascularization strategies for high-risk patients with complex coronary artery disease
• OHCA Work Group: Refines triage criteria and post-arrest care protocols. CARES Registry integration enabled continuous performance tracking, resulting in improved survival-to-discharge rates and better neurological outcomes

"It is an honor to present St. Vincent's Medical Center with this award for an initiative that demonstrates how clinical teams transform data into real-world improvements in patient care," said Jennifer Jackson, CEO, CHA.  "This initiative has advanced a comprehensive approach to improve health outcomes and survival, truly saving lives.  We applaud the team for this exceptional achievement."

CHA's John D. Thompson Award was established in 1994 and honors the contributions made by John D. Thompson to healthcare administration and patient care quality during his career.  Dr. Thompson was a professor at Yale's Schools of Nursing, Medicine, and Public Health, known for his advocacy of using quantitative data in health policy formulation, and specifically his role in the development of DRGs for hospital reimbursement.  The award recognizes excellence in patient care through the use of data, as demonstrated by the improvement of internal operations, procedures, and outcomes.

Learn more about the program by watching the award recognition video here. 

SOURCE Hartford HealthCare