Frye Regional Medical Center, a Duke LifePoint hospital and Duke Health affiliate in Heart, has been awarded the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain - MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2025. This marks the eleventh consecutive year Frye Regional has received the prestigious honor. The hospital is one of only 27 in North Carolina and 323 hospitals nationwide to earn this distinction.

The Platinum Award recognizes Frye Regional’s commitment and success in delivering evidence-based care to heart attack patients. The hospital consistently meets aggressive treatment goals and standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

To earn this award, Frye Regional has demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024) while also reaching the highest 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 Frye Regional Medical Center with the Platinum 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 Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “The receipt of this award indicates that Frye Regional 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 recognition adds to Frye Regional’s achievements in cardiovascular care, which include The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Advanced Heart Failure Accreditation and Primary Stroke Center Certification as well as American College of Cardiology Chest Pain Center Accreditation with Primary PCI and American College of Cardiology Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation with PCI among other quality awards. The hospital was also recently named High Performing in Pacemaker Implantation in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-2026 Best Hospitals edition.

“This accreditation from the ACC validates the unwavering dedication of our entire team,” said Philip Greene, MD, chief executive officer of Frye Regional Medical Center. “It reaffirms our commitment to delivering the highest standards of cardiovascular care to our patients.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 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.

The 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.

Frye Regional Medical Center is proud to be a Duke Health affiliate in Heart, bringing nationally recognized cardiovascular expertise to Catawba and surrounding counties. Through this collaboration, patients benefit from advanced education for care providers from Duke Heart Center’s leading specialists on cardiovascular clinical practice guidelines.

For more information or to schedule an appointment with a Frye Regional’s heart specialist, visit FryeMedCtr.com/heart-care or call 828.261.0009.

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