The American Heart Association lauded the efforts of the medical staff at Doctors Hospital of Manteca this past week in the treatment of heart patients accomplishing more than 85 percent of its stated goal over a 24-month period.

Vice president of the association’s Quality Improvement Initiative, Rea Anne Arcangel, presented hospital quality control and pharmacy director Katie Marconi the official award Thursday morning in the hospital’s administrative board room filled with department heads.

The “Get with the Guidelines” award recognized that Doctors had reached its aggressive target in the treatment of its patients as prescribed by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology in the secondary prevention of heart failures.

The quality improvement initiative provided the hospital’s medical staff with the appropriate tools enabling them to follow evidence-based procedures in better caring for heart failure patients in an effort to prevent additional hospitalizations in the future.

“Doctors Hospital of Manteca is dedicated to making our care for heart failure patients among the best in the country,” Marconi said.