HealthNet of the Northeast, one of the region's largest insurance carriers, has named St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center in Roslyn as one of only three designated Cardiac Centers of Excellence in New York, and the only one on Long Island.

This designation as a Cardiac Center of Excellence was based on a selection process that included scoring hospitals based on an assessment of cardiac service-related outcomes, supportive program structure and patient satisfaction. The hospital scored highly in all areas surveyed, and received a perfect score in many, including physician experience, customer satisfaction and quality improvement.

"St. Francis Hospital's tradition of providing the best cardiac care is generating nationwide recognition, and reaffirms our deep commitment to the highest standards," said Alan D. Guerci, MD, president and CEO of the hospital. "We will continue to provide this level of expertise with new research and technologies."

HealthNet of the Northeast is a full-service health plan, one of the largest in the Northeast, and serves more than 1 million members in the quad-state area. The two other New York hospitals named by HealtNet as Cardiac Centers of Excellence are Lenox Hill Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center.

St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center is New York State's only specialty-designated cardiac center. It performs more cardiac procedures than any other hospital in the Northeast and is the only hospital on Long Island with risk-adjusted mortality rates for both coronary artery bypass surgery and angioplasty that are significantly lower than the statewide average, according to the New York State Department of Health.