The VCU Health Pauley Heart Center has received numerous national accolades this summer. In July, Becker’s Hospital Review recognized Pauley as one of its 2024 Top 100 “Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Heart Programs.” The hospitals, health systems, and institutes featured on this list are renowned for their superior heart and vascular care. The list celebrates programs that deliver high-quality outcomes, build skilled teams of expert caregivers, and make key research discoveries in heart care.

To compile this list, the Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team assessed rankings and awards from reputable organizations such as U.S. News & World Report, Healthgrades, CMS, The Leapfrog Group and more, and also accepted nominations. This week, Becker’s also announced that the Pauley Heart Center was the top heart hospital in the state of Virginia, per US News and World Report’s 2024-2025 Best Hospitals ranking. In the USNWR survey, which was published on July 16, Pauley was ranked 42nd in the nation for cardiology, heart surgery, and vascular surgery, making Pauley one of the best heart hospitals in the country, and the only heart hospital ranked nationally in Virginia.

The VCU Health Pauley Heart Center has also received a Gold Performance Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiac Data Registry (NCDR) Chest Pain – Myocardial Infarction (MI) Registry. The award recognizes VCU Health’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. VCU Health is one of only 61 hospitals nationwide to receive this honor.

The NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry is one of several cardiovascular care registries administered by the ACC, all of which generate and deliver actionable knowledge to practitioners that advances quality, equity, and value of cardiovascular care. The NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk heart attack patients.

To receive the Chest Pain – MI Registry Gold Performance Achievement Award, VCU Health has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain – MI Registry for two consecutive years and performed at the top level for specific performance measures. Full participation in the registry engages hospitals in a robust quality improvement process using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart attack patients.

“It is an honor to award VCU Health with the Gold Performance Award for their valuable national leadership and dedication to meeting comprehensive performance measures in patient care,” said Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC, chair of the NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Steering Subcommittee, and cardiologist at the Pauley Heart Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that VCU Health remains committed to providing top quality, guideline-driven care for heart attack patients. Their success ensures patients are receiving the highest quality cardiovascular care.”

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot in a coronary artery partially or completely blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. Treatment guidelines include administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge, timely restoration of blood flow to the blocked artery, smoking cessation counseling, and cardiac rehabilitation, among others.

About the Pauley Heart Center

Founded more than 20 years ago, the Pauley Heart Center is today the top heart hospital in Virginia and one of the top 50 heart hospitals in the country. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death nationwide and in Virginia, and despite advances in prevention and treatment in recent decades, disproportionately affects individuals with poor social determinants of health. Pauley’s mission is to improve cardiovascular care and reduce health disparities for all through research, community engagement, education, and clinical care that is the best in the Commonwealth. Pauley clinicians and researchers have pioneered many of the treatments and devices that are now cardiovascular standards of care across the world. Headquartered at VCU Health in Richmond with outpatient centers throughout central and southeast Virginia, Pauley provides clinical services and community education and outreach programs throughout the region.