UM Shore Medical Center at Easton’s Stroke Center was recently notified by the American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association’s that for the second year in a row, it has received the (ASA) Get With The Guidelines®- Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
According to the ASA, hospitals earning the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award have reached an aggressive goal of treating patients with 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and have achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures.
Stroke, a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain, takes the lives of more than 130,000 Americans each year and is the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When in need of prompt care for stroke, residents of the five-county region served by University of Maryland Shore Regional Health have access to a designated Primary Stroke Center at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton.
A Primary Stroke Center designation is given by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) when standards are met to support better outcomes for stroke care. Certification standards include having a dedicated stroke-focused program, staffed 24/7 by specially trained medical professionals who provide expedited diagnostic services and stroke care.
Inclusion on the Target: Stroke Honor Roll is awarded to hospitals demonstrating success in meeting quality measures to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), Alteplase, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. If given in the first three hours after the onset of stroke symptoms, Alteplase has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.
Says Ken Kozel, president and CEO, UM Shore Regional Health, “Our Stroke Center’s continued recognition from the American Stroke Association demonstrates the team’s success with providing innovative stroke treatments to patients as quickly and safely as possible. Our team is providing state of the art care that saves lives and helps reduce the risk of long-term disability in patients who experience a stroke.”
Additional information about the Primary Stroke Center at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton can be found at UMShoreRegional.org/stroke