top of page

Iberia Medical Center: Special Designation for Heart Attack Care

Loading...

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.

New Cath Lab at Main Campus

Iberia Medical Center announces recent completion of the new catheterization (cath) lab at the Main Campus. Cardiac cath labs allow interventional cardiologists to perform minimally invasive tests and advanced cardiac procedures to diagnose and treat cardiac and peripheral vascular disease.


“This new lab represents a significant milestone for our cardiovascular services and hospital growth. If a person is having a heart attack, getting the patient to the cath lab immediately is important to restore blood flow as quickly as possible. Time is heart muscle. Major arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle that have become blocked will likely lead to the heart being unable to function if the blockages aren’t removed. The quicker the patient can be treated in our cath lab, the more heart muscle can be saved.  Having 24/7 local cath lab access means lives will be saved,” stated Dionne Viator, CEO, Iberia Medical Center. 


“The new Philips Azurion Cardiac Catherization Laboratory represents the latest in advanced technology and will provide significant benefits for both patients and physicians. Diagnoses and treatments will be delivered more quickly, efficiently and with higher-resolution images than before. This upgrade will offer advanced tools to create the ideal treatment environment,” stated Dr. Krishna Nagendran, interventional cardiologist, Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS), New Iberia.                                                    


“We are excited about evolving and growing our cardiovascular services. This new lab will benefit patients in Iberia Parish and surrounding communities. It represents one of our most impressive technological advancements at our Main Campus to date, and we are proud of how this will help us care for our cardiovascular patients,” stated Dionne Viator, CEO, Iberia Medical Center.

bottom of page