- Written By:Alex Colley, Marketing and Business Development Manager
American Heart Association Award recognizes St. Mary’s Medical Center’s commitment to quality stroke care
St. Mary’s Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
St. Mary’s Medical Center earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“The team at St. Mary’s Medical Center is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients and is proud to have implemented the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Barb Miller, Stroke Coordinator. “We could not be more thrilled with this award as it recognizes the hard-work and commitment we put in day in and day out to improve patient outcomes.”
St. Mary’s Medical Center also received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll/ award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
“We are pleased to recognize St. Mary’s Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “Research“Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
Additionally, the Stroke Center at St. Mary’s Medical Center has earned the Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center. Nurses and physicians are certified by the National Institutes of Health and specially trained to provide quick diagnoses and treatment for individuals suffering from strokes. The neurologist, radiologists and Emergency Room physicians all work together to obtain the necessary tests to confirm stroke diagnoses and begin treatment. Some of these procedures include CTs, CTAs and CT perfusion. St. Mary’s provides inpatient emergent stroke care, quick response time and a rehabilitation unit assuring that it can meet the needs of the community.