University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center Receives Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Elite Plus
American Heart Association Award recognizes UH Elyria’s commitment to quality stroke care
ELYRIA, OH ― University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement award with Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
UH Elyria Medical Center earned the Gold Plus Quality Achievement 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 and have a follow-up visit scheduled as well as other care transition interventions.
“UH Elyria is dedicated to improving the quality of our care for stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines – Stroke initiative,” said Terry Gallagher, BSN, RN, Clinical Stroke Coordinator at UH Elyria Medical Center. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidence-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Additionally, UH Elyria Medical Center received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, the hospital met 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.
“A stroke patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed. This recognition further demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely,” said Gallagher. “We continue to strive for excellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients. The recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Stroke further reinforces our team’s hard work.”
“We are pleased to recognize University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. 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 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.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.