Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital launches first STEMI (ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction) program in city
24/7 care team, cardiac catherization lab available for life-saving rapid response to severe heart attacks
Orlando, FL (July 7, 2026) Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital launched its STEMI (ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction) program with a cardiac care team available 24/7 to treat the most serious types of heart attacks in the hospital’s state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab.
In January, the hospital expanded its ability and capacity to care for patients with the addition of two state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratory procedure rooms, plus a new 10-bed intensive care unit. That expansion enabled Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital to become the first facility in the city to meet the standards required to treat the most severe type of heart attack.
Each year, approximately 350,000 people die from cardiac arrest in Florida, and it remains the third-leading cause of death in the United States.
When a patient arrives at the hospital’s emergency department with symptoms of a heart attack, the goal is to diagnose the condition and begin treatment within 90 minutes, as recommended by the American Heart Association.
“Every minute counts when someone is having a major heart attack — the sooner our team can open that blocked artery, the better the chance of saving heart muscle and reducing permanent damage,” said Prakrut Patel, MD, interventional cardiologist with Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute – St. Cloud. “Through this STEMI program, our patients can receive the advanced cardiac care they need much closer to home, without losing valuable time during emergency transport outside St. Cloud. It also enables a patient’s loved ones to remain close by, which supports their recovery. We are proud to offer this exceptional level of compassionate, specialized care to the community we are grateful to serve.”
About Orlando Health
Orlando Health is a private not-for-profit, integrated academic healthcare system with $15 billion of assets under management, that serves the southeastern United States – including Florida and Alabama – and Puerto Rico. With corporate offices in Orlando, Florida the system provides a complete continuum of care across a network of medical centers and institutes, community and specialty hospitals, physician practices, urgent care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare, and long-term and behavioral health care services.
Founded more than 100 years ago, Orlando Health’s mission is to improve the health and the quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve. The system provided nearly $2 billion in community impact in the form of community benefit programs and services, Medicare shortfalls, bad debt, community-building activities and capital investments in FY 24, the most recent period for which the information is available.
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