William Cauthen, Jr., M.D.

When your heart’s on the line, choose nationally accredited care.

You have only one heart, so knowing where to go for expert cardiac care can make all the difference if you’re having a heart attack. Carolinas Hospital System was the first in the region to be recognized as a nationally accredited Chest Pain Center.

This accreditation means we have the doctors, technology and procedures in place to provide lifesaving care fast. With shorter wait times and a calmer atmosphere, our Emergency Department offers a highly experienced medical team under the direction of 20-year emergency medicine veteran, Dr. William Cauthen.

The Chest Pain Center at Carolinas Hospital System focuses on the rapid identification and diagnosis of heart attacks. Rapid response can mean the difference between permanent heart muscle damage and complete recovery. Our skilled cardiac care team is on duty 24 hours a day, seven days week.

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The goal of The Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

The Chest Pain Center’s protocol driven and systematic approach to patient management allows physicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective, and to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

With the rise of Chest Pain Centers came the need to establish standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. The Society’s accreditation process insures centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine.

The Chest Pain Center at Carolinas Hospital System has demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing on-site evaluations by a review team from The Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care.