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Iberia Medical Center: Special Designation for Heart Attack Care

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Iberia Medical Center: Special Designation for Heart Attack Care

February 2, 2026

Iberia Medical Center has earned a special designation for heart attack care.  The Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN) recognizes Iberia Medical Center’s Main Campus as a STEMI Receiving Center, an elite designation for hospitals meeting or exceeding national guidelines for heart attack care.

 

What is a STEMI Heart Attack?

STEMI, or ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, is a serious heart attack caused by a lack of blood flow to large areas of the heart. Patients experiencing these critical types of heart attacks require immediate medical intervention to restore blood flow and minimize damage. As a designated STEMI Receiving Center Iberia Medical Center’s Main Campus is equipped to deliver potential lifesaving treatment by reopening blocked arteries within 90 minutes, meeting the national standard for STEMI care.

 

Importance of Designation

This lifesaving criteria ensures that patients experiencing chest pain or heart attacks receive the fastest, most effective treatment available. This designation means that Iberia Medical Center’s Main Campus can quickly assess, diagnose and provide interventional heart attack-related care, significantly improving outcomes. 

 

“This designation reflects our ongoing commitment to providing high-quality, timely emergency cardiac care to our community,” said Dionne Viator, CEO. “As one of a few hospitals in the region with this designation, our Main Campus team and life-saving technology is available 24/7. Fast response to heart attacks means we are saving lives.”

 

What is the Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN)

The Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN) is an agency of state government created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2004 charged with the responsibility of developing and maintaining a statewide system of care coordination for patients suddenly stricken by serious traumatic injury or time-sensitive illness (such as heart attack and stroke). It is a system also designated to serve as a vital healthcare resource in the face of larger scale emergencies and natural disasters.

Iberia Medical Center Nationally Recognized with "A" Grade for Patient Safety

Iberia Medical Center has received an “A” grade for the Fall 2022  Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. This prestigious national distinction, announced yesterday, recognizes Iberia Medical Center as among the top in the nation in protecting patients from preventable harm and errors in the hospital.


“As we continue to navigate an ever-changing and complex healthcare industry, I thank the dedicated hospital staff, physicians and leadership at Iberia Medical Center for a commitment to patient safety, every day,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “An ‘A’ Safety Grade is an outstanding achievement, and one that is not possible without a 24/7 effort by the entire healthcare workforce to protect patients from harm. This community should be proud.”


“This ‘A’ grade designation places Iberia Medical Center in an elite group at the state and national level. This ‘A’ rating validates that IMC is focused on driving improvements in care delivery and patient satisfaction every day. Our clinical leaders routinely review our patient care processes and compare our data to nationally recognized benchmarks and best practices, said Dionne Viator, CEO of Iberia Medical Center. This rating recognizes our hospital’s unrelenting commitment to placing safety at the forefront of our patients’ care. Nothing is more important to us than offering our patients trusted care in a safe environment.”


The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on over thirty national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.


“It truly takes a team effort to make patient safety possible to protect our patients from preventable errors, injuries, and infections. A recognition that can be attributed in part to our team’s ability to recognize and meet the changing needs of our patients through our quality initiatives and programs, states Dionne Viator, Iberia Medical Center CEO. 


The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.


To see Iberia Medical Center’s full grade details and other hospitals in Acadiana and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visitHospitalSafetyGrade.org

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