Nicklaus Children's Hospital Nationally Recognized for its Commitment to Excellence in Cardiovascular Care

Published on: 07/20/2026

Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has received four American Heart Association quality achievement awards for demonstrating a commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart conditions and stroke, helping save lives, support recovery and reduce hospital readmissions.

Heart conditions are a leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. Studies show patients can experience better outcomes when care teams consistently follow evidence-based treatment guidelines.

Get With The Guidelines® puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest science-backed guidelines. As a participant in the Get With The Guidelines programs, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital qualified for the awards by demonstrating a sustained commitment to improving the quality of cardiovascular care.

“Caring for our community’s children is both our privilege and our purpose,” said Randy Harmatz Matott, Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer of Nicklaus Children’s Health System. “Receiving recognition through the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program reflects our unwavering commitment to delivering the highest standards of quality and safety in cardiovascular care. We are proud to equip our care teams with the resources and expertise needed to provide timely, evidence-based treatment that helps our young patients have healthier futures.”

This year, Nicklaus Children's Hospital received these achievement awards:

  • Get With The Guidelines® - Resuscitation Gold - Neonate/Infant
  • Get With The Guidelines® - Resuscitation Gold- Pediatric
  • Target: CPR
  • Get With The Guidelines® - Resuscitation Gold - Adult

 “These awards reflect Nicklaus Children’s Hospital's commitment to caring for people in their community who need cardiovascular care,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee. “By following the American Heart Association’s quality improvement protocols, Nicklaus Children’s can help advance our shared vision of better patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates — a win for patients, families and health care systems.”

 
About Nicklaus Children's Health System Where Your Child Matters Most™ (2026)

For more than 75 years, Nicklaus Children's Health System has stood as a beacon of hope for children and families across the state of Florida and beyond. Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children. Nicklaus Children's provides pediatric care across a growing network of hospital and community-based partnerships, including care within NCH North Hospital in Naples, Jupiter Medical Center, select Baptist Health Hospital pediatric emergency units, and Nicklaus Children's Hospital Fort Lauderdale and Nicklaus Children's Hospital Coral Springs each located on the campuses of Broward Health. The hospitals and their network of more than 35 outpatient care locations offer lifesaving care in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin and Palm Beach counties. outpatient locations include an array of urgent care, pediatric primary care and subspecialty care centers and are either hospital-based or outpatient locations under Nicklaus Children's Pediatric Specialists, LLC (NCPS).Providing a pipeline of future physicians and groundbreaking research, Nicklaus Children's is an academic and clinical affiliate of the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Nicklaus Children's is home to centers of excellence including the Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Nicklaus Children's Orthopedic, Sports Medicine and Spine Institute, Nicklaus Children's Neuroscience Institute and Nicklaus Children's Heart Institute. The 474-bed system is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, with many programs routinely ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's also includes a nonprofit physician practice subsidiary with more than 40 pediatric specialties and an ambulatory surgery center. For more information, visit nicklauschildrens.org.

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