UNC Health Nash Earns National Awards for Heart & Stroke Care

UNC Health Nash has received recognition from the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Stroke Association (ASA) and the American College of Cardiology with awards for industry-leading performance in heart and stroke care. Nash was also recognized in U.S. News’ 2024-25 “Best Hospitals” report as ‘High Performing’ in both Heart Attack and Heart Failure.

"For the eighth year in a row, UNC Nash has been recognized as an industry leader in heart and stroke care,” said Dr. L. Lee Isley, president and CEO of UNC Health Nash. “Achieving this level of national recognition year after year confirms that our team remains committed to providing exceptional care to every patient, every time. These distinctions prove that our heart services are creating a measurable impact in our community, while also growing our role as a trusted heart care provider to our region.”

UNC Nash’s awards include the AHA’s "Get With The Guidelines - Coronary Artery Disease” for both Gold STEMI Receiving and Gold NSTEMI, as well as "Get With The Guidelines” Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, which includes the additional recognition of Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite. All three awards include the additional recognition of Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

To qualify for the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognition, UNC Nash had to meet specific quality measures for 12 consecutive months based on the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score” developed by the ASA that proves hospitals are equipped to provide high quality care for this patient population.

The Nash Heart Center has also received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2024, and is one of only 259 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor. Additionally, UNC Nash was reaccredited as an American College of Cardiology Accredited Primary PCI Chest Pain Center, remains accredited as an Intersocietal Accreditation Commission Accredited Facility for Echocardiography and AHA/ASA Primary Stroke Center, and also currently holds a National Quality Approval from The Joint Commission for stroke care.

To earn these awards, UNC Health Nash had to meet specific and rigorous criteria and performance standards that aim to increase the quality and timeliness of care for heart attack and stroke patients.

To be rated as “high performing” in U.S. News’ “Best Hospitals” Heart Attack and Heart Failure reports, Nash had to rank “significantly above” the national average in several qualifying categories, including patient outcomes, home recovery, advanced programs and more. Out of 141 hospitals state-wide, Nash is one of only 32 hospitals recognized for Heart Failure, and one of 25 for Heart Attack.

"We are proud and humbled to have consistently received the highest awards in Heart Attack care since the Primary PCI Program began eight years ago,” said Dr. Michael Yeung, Medical Director of Nash Heart Center. “In addition to our Heart Attack and Heart Failure programs, which have been recognized for the first time by U.S. News as High Performing, our total heart care programs continue to grow. In the last eight years, we have worked hard to expand our services to include management of electrical rhythm abnormalities, valvular heart disease, peripheral heart disease and acute pulmonary embolism. Soon, we will offer novel therapies to treat difficult-to-control hypertension. I believe we are very close to achieving our vision of making Nash a comprehensive Heart Center.”

The awards recognize UNC Health Nash’s commitment to a high standard of care for stroke and heart attack patients and signifies the hospital treats these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology, AHA and ASA clinical guidelines and recommendations.

“Our mission is to provide the highest level of care for our patients, and we are proud of our heart and stroke programs for achieving such prestigious awards,” said Debbie Beecham, UNC Nash stroke program coordinator. “They exemplify our commitment to promoting close-to-home community health for so many here in our service area and beyond.”

For more information on heart and stroke care, visit www.unchealthnash.org.