Essentia Health-Fargo recognized by American Heart Association for high performance

Essentia Health-Fargo has received a 2025 Commitment to Quality Award from the American Heart Association (AHA), a new award recognizing hospitals that achieve high performance across three or more clinical areas in the Get With The Guidelines® program.

By participating in this program, Essentia Health-Fargo is committed to using real-time data registries, evidence-based protocols and cross-disciplinary teamwork to raise the standard of care across multiple specialties.

"This award is a great example of our commitment to providing compassionate, high-quality care that not only improves patient outcomes but also supports the health and well-being of our entire community," said Dr. Lola Oluleye, division chair of heart and vascular services at Essentia Health-Fargo.

"This recognition reflects our team’s dedication to treating the whole patient, not just a condition," added Duane Neugebauer, cardiology operations manager at Essentia Health-Fargo. "We are focused on continuous improvement and delivering the highest quality care across our heart and vascular department."

Heart disease remains the No.1 leading cause of death in the United States. Studies show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines.

Get With The Guidelines® is the AHA’s hospital-based quality-improvement initiative that helps ensure patients are treated in accordance with the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines. Participating hospitals benefit from tools, resources and peer benchmarking to drive better patient outcomes. For more information, visit heart.org.

"This award highlights the impressive commitment Essentia Health-Fargo has made to improving care across multiple disciplines," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, past volunteer president of the AHA and current volunteer chair of the AHA’s Quality Oversight Committee.

In addition to the Commitment to Quality award, Essentia Health-Fargo earned Get With The Guidelines® awards in Heart Failure Gold Plus and Coronary Artery Disease NSTEMI Silver, as well as additional accolades for ensuring patients with Type 2 diabetes receive the most  up-to-date, evidence-based care.

WATCH: In this video, interventional cardiologist Dr. Rory Farnan talks about the significance of the new award and heart care available at Essentia Health-Fargo on North Dakota Today.

Taking care of your heart

Knowing if your heart is at risk for disease empowers you to make choices that help it maintain a strong beat. If interested in learning more about your heart risk, take our online heart health assessment at EssentiaHealth.org/MyHeart. The assessment is quick, easy and free.

You can also schedule a heart screening, available at Essentia Health-32nd Avenue Clinic in Fargo. A heart screening can help identify heart and vascular conditions before symptoms appear. For more information on other available screenings and diagnostic tests through Essentia, please visit EssentiaHealth.org or call (701) 364-BEAT.