Jewish Hospital receives Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
2/26/2013
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LOUISVILLE, KY. – Jewish Hospital, part of KentuckyOne Health, has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, recognizing the facility’s commitment to and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.
The achievement award is based on continued high scores in a number of areas including: aggressive use of medications, such as antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients, including risk-factor education.
In addition to the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke award, Jewish Hospital has also been recognized as a recipient of the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll, for the quick and effective administration of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), or clot-busting agent, within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital (for eligible ischemic stroke patients.) These are the only drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the urgent treatment of ischemic stroke. If given intravenously within the first three hours after the onset of symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reverse the effects of stroke and reduce permanent disability.
“With a stroke, time saved is brain saved, and this achievement demonstrates Jewish Hospital’s commitment to providing aggressive, evidence-based stroke care,” said Kerri S. Remmel, M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Vascular Neurology, University of Louisville. “Our focus is to provide the region’s foremost stroke care, continuing to utilize cutting-edge technology and proven care methods.”
“We are proud that the efforts and dedication of our stroke team have been recognized with this honor,” Kristin Mefford RN, BSN, Stroke Program Coordinator, KentuckyOne Health, Louisville Market. “We work hard every day to employ best practices and improve outcomes for our stroke patients.”
“Jewish Hospital is to be commended for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
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About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health was formed when two major Kentucky health care organizations came together in early 2012. KentuckyOne Health combines the Jewish and Catholic heritages of the two former systems – Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System. In late 2012, the organization formed a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital | James Graham Brown Cancer Center. The nonprofit system is committed to improving the health of Kentuckians by integrating medical research, education, technology and health care services wherever patients receive care. KentuckyOne Health has more than 200 locations including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies, with nearly 15,000 employees across the state of Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is the largest health system in Kentucky and has more than 3,100 licensed beds.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.
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