UP Health System-Marquette is the first hospital in Michigan and fourth in the nation to be awarded an accreditation for its cardiac cath lab that includes percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, procedures. (Courtesy photo)

MARQUETTE — UP Health System-Marquette is the first hospital in Michigan and fourth in the nation to be awarded an accreditation for its cardiac catheterization lab that includes percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, procedures.

Based on meticulous data and onsite evaluations, the American College of Cardiology Accreditation Services has recognized UPHS-Marquette, a Duke LifePoint hospital, in March for its commitment in treating patients who come to a cardiac cath lab for care, according to a release.

“For us internally, we’re obviously very proud of everyone in the program. We worked real hard together to get this done. It was a very detailed evaluation,” said Robert Kroll, Cath Lab Director at UPHS-Marquette.

Facilities that achieve this accreditation must meet or exceed an extremely detailed evaluation of its overall operation, which, according to Kroll, included how staff cleans the lab, how procedures are done and “everything in between.”

Kroll said about 2,500 patients are treated in the lab per year and that around 90 percent of patients are able to leave the hospital the same day they arrive for treatment.

“The accreditation is overview of the whole program and how the whole service line works. It’s an oversight of quality standards, critical outcomes, procedural techniques, collaboration. It’s not so much about the procedure as it is the measure of the program,” he said, adding that the hospital is leading the way for other facilities.

According to Kroll, the accreditation is an ongoing commitment that’s valid for three years with an annual fee.

“It’s a huge investment for us and the community,” he said. “The bar is always going higher every year and that’s what accreditation does for you. You’re always looking internally, looking at outcome data, looking at how you compare against the rest of the country (and) the rest of the registries and that’s your bar. As everybody gets better we all keep going up and that’s good for patients.”

Dr. Kristofer Dosh, an interventional cardiologist at UPHS-Marquette, said the accreditation is something to be very proud of.

“It’s just a formal way to show what we’ve already known for a long time — that we have a top notch cardiology program here,” he said. “The group that we have here is an incredible group so for us to be able to show as the first LifePoint hospital to have two … accreditations designating us as a high-quality cardiovascular program just verifies what we’ve always known — that this is really a top-notch program and a great place to get cardiovascular care.”

UP Health System-Marquette provides comprehensive cardiovascular services including general cardiology, diagnostic testing, diagnostic and interventional cardiology, clinical research, electrophysiology, rehabilitation, vascular care, and open-heart surgery.

As a Duke Health Affiliate for Heart & Vascular care, UPHS-Marquette collaborates with the Duke Heart Network to optimize patient outcomes, promote evidence-based medicine, improve community health, and facilitate access to clinical research.