For Immediate Release	Contact: Joyce Faria Brennan
February 1, 2008	508-961-5270
	brennanj@southcoast.org
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FALL RIVER, Mass. — Charlton Memorial Hospital, the Fall River site of Southcoast Hospitals Group, has been designated a UnitedHealth Premium Cardiac Specialty Center for 2007 to 2009. This designation means Charlton has met rigorous quality criteria based on nationally recognized medical standards and expert advice.

Southcoast Hospitals' cardiac program received designation of three stars and higher efficiency as a UnitedHealth Premium Cardiac Specialty Center in all three cardiac categories: Cardiac care (interventional and emergency services), cardiac rhythm management and cardiac surgery.

According to UnitedHealthcare, the UnitedHealth Premium Specialty Center designation program was developed to give its members information about, and access to, cardiac hospitals meeting rigorous quality criteria. The designation is based on detailed information about specialized training, practice capabilities and proficiencies that hospitals submit to UnitedHealthcare and is designed to help consumers make informed decisions about where to seek cardiac care.

"The UnitedHealth Premium designation means that our patients can depend on Southcoast Hospitals for conscientious, reliable cardiac care," said Marcia W. Liggin, MBA, RN, CNAA, BC, Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer for Southcoast Hospitals Group, which offers the South Coast region's most complete heart services, including the only hospital to provide open heart surgery and elective angioplasty.

"Since its inception in 2002, Southcoast's cardiac surgery program has brought unprecedented access to advanced cardiac services to the region and has received exemplary reviews and outstanding patient satisfaction," Liggin said.

Southcoast Hospitals Group performed the first open heart surgery in Southeastern Massachusetts in April 2002, bringing the lifesaving procedure to the region with the state's highest incidence of heart disease. Southcoast was the first of three community hospitals in the state approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to offer open heart surgery and elective coronary angioplasty at its Charlton Memorial Hospital site in Fall River.

About Southcoast

Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of advanced health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

Southcoast has more than 40 ancillary facilities, including the Southcoast Health Van, home health care, hospice and infusion services, numerous outpatient medical services, an assisted living facility and a wellness center. For more information visit www.southcoast.org.

Southcoast is one of three community hospitals approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to perform open heart surgery and primary angioplasty beginning in Spring 2002.

Media Contact

Joyce Faria Brennan
Public Information Officer
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org