The American Heart Association presents Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Silver Plus and Bronze Achievement Awards for commitment to prioritizing quality care for stroke patients.
Mount Airy, NC — Northern Regional has received the American Heart Association Stroke Silver Plus and Bronze Get With The Guidelines®– Stroke Quality Achievement Awards for our commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
“Northern Regional Hospital is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to helping patients have the best possible chance of survival after a stroke,” said Debbie Moser, Stroke Coordinator at Northern. “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke makes it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis to improve outcomes for stroke patients.”
Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Northern Regional also provides education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
“We are pleased to recognize Northern Regional Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “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.”
Northern Regional Hospital 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.
Additionally, Northern received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
Northern is also certified as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission.
Northern Regional Hospital, a 133-bed hospital, is an independently operated award-winning facility with a number of outpatient service locations including physician specialists, pharmacy, and fitness center. Northern Medical Group is the hospital’s network of primary care and specialty providers delivering a comprehensive array of services to meet the needs of the community. Northern Regional Hospital is a certified Stroke Center of Excellence and has been recognized for distinction in patient safety and quality. Northern is rated a 4-Star Hospital by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The state-of-the art Surgery Center houses a wide range of inpatient and outpatient procedures including orthopedics, gynecology, gastroenterology, urological, surgeries of the eye, and other general surgeries. Founded in 1957, Northern Regional Hospital is located in Mount Airy, North Carolina and serves the northwest Piedmont region of NC and neighboring counties in southwest Virginia. For more information visit www.choosenorthern.org.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit www.heart.org.
