It’s estimated that 85% of muscle damage takes place within the first two hours of a heart attack. While some heart attacks are sudden and intense, most start slowly with just mild pain or discomfort. If you or someone else is experiencing any of the below signs of a heart attack, please call 9-1-1 immediately:
Paramedics notify our Chest Pain Center team when a heart attack patient is on the way. Upon arrival, we will do a rapid assessment, including heart monitoring and a blood test to measure heart muscle damage. We may also do an electrocardiogram, if not already done by the paramedic on the way to the hospital.
If confirmed to be a heart attack, our Chest Pain Center team will perform percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as angioplasty, to open the vessels quickly as quickly as possible and restore blood flow to the heart.
We strive to ensure that our "door-to-balloon" time (from arrival to vessel-opening) averages 60 minutes or less—well below the 90-minute benchmark recommended by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
Both our Concord and Walnut Creek medical centers have been designated as STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) Receiving Centers for high-risk heart attack patients by Contra Costa County Emergency Medical Services.
The STEMI team is activated when the hospital is notified by Emergency Medical Services providers that a heart attack patient is en route to the hospital. Once the patient arrives, rapid assessment, diagnosis and, when indicated, immediate coronary intervention is provided. Our objective is to ensure that our doorto-balloon times average 60 minutes or less in accordance with guidelines set by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
Emergency Room at Concord Medical Center
Emergency Room at Walnut Creek Medical Center
We are dedicated to improving the health of the communities we serve with quality and compassion. This is demonstrated by our consistently high patient satisfaction ratings, and in the awards and accolades received from highly respected healthcare and accreditation organizations.
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons has developed a comprehensive rating system for the quality of Cardiac surgery among hospitals across the country. Approximately 12-15% of hospitals received the "3-star" rating, which denotes the highest category of quality. In the current analysis of national data, the performance of our hospital in three adult cardiac procedures was found to lie in this highest quality tier, thereby receiving an STS 3-star rating for:
*** Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), Jan 2018 - Dec 2018
*** Aortic Valve Replacement (AVR), Jan 2016 - Dec 2018
*** Mitral Valve Repair/Replacement (MVRR), Jan 2016 - Dec 2018
Concord Medical Center received a 2020 Quality Recognition from Healthgrades, ranking among America's Top 50 Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery. This represents the top 1% of hospitals in the United States. Healthgrades America’s Best Hospitals™ is based solely on clinical quality outcomes for 32 conditions and procedures. This premier distinction rewards hospitals that consistently exhibit exceptional, comprehensive quality care.
Concord and Walnut Creek Medical Centers are the recipients of the Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2020. The award recognizes commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that JMH has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations. To receive the Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, JMH has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for eight consecutive quarters and has performed at the top level of standards for specific performance measures.
Walnut Creek Medical Center has earned the 2020 Mission: Lifeline® - STEMI Receiving Silver Award
STEMI Receiving Centers earn Silver recognition for achieving 85% or higher composite adherence to all Mission: Lifeline® STEMI Receiving Center quality achievement indicators with 75% or higher compliance, using aggregated 2018 data on all Mission: Lifeline® STEMI Receiving Center quality measures to improve the quality of care for STEMI patients.
Concord Medical Center has earned the 2020 Mission: Lifeline® - STEMI Receiving Silver Plus Award
STEMI Receiving Silver Plus STEMI Receiving Center also achieves at least 75% adherence for the same consecutive 12 month interval as the Silver award for the first door-to-device time <120 minutes measure.
Walnut Creek and Concord Medical Centers have earned the 2020 Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
Hospitals receiving Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Achievement Award have reached an aggressive goal of treating patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association® for 2 consecutive calendar years. In addition, those hospitals have demonstrated 75 percent compliance to (four out of ten heart failure quality measures or seven out of ten stroke quality measures) during the 12-month period.
Walnut Creek and Concord Medical Centers have earned the 2020 Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and also qualified for recognition on the Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll. Walnut Creek Medical Center has also qualified for recognition on the Target: Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll.
Hospitals receiving Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Achievement Award have reached an aggressive goal of treating patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association® for 2 consecutive calendar years. In addition, those hospitals have demonstrated 75 percent compliance to (four out of ten heart failure quality measures or seven out of ten stroke quality measures) during the 12-month period.
Hospitals achieving Time to thrombolytic therapy ≤ 60 minutes in 75% or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA to improve quality of patient care and outcomes.
The California Report on Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery 2015-2016: Hospital and Surgeon Data was released by the California Office of Statewide Planning and Development in March of 2019. John Muir Medical Center – Concord is one of only two hospitals in the state, and the only one in the Bay Area, performing significantly “Better” than the state average in CABG mortality outcomes. This public report provides quality ratings for the 126 California-licensed hospitals performing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in adults during 2015 and 2016, the most recent data published.
For the fourth straight year, Concord Medical Center was one of only 37 hospitals nationwide (less than 1%) to receive a high-performing rating in the following adult procedures and conditions -- Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair, Aortic Valve Surgery, Heart Bypass Surgery and Heart Failure. This year, Concord Medical Center was also rated as high-performing in Aortic Valve Surgery, and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).
Concord Medical Center is recognized as Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care.