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Email a FriendCapital Health Receives Highest Award for Stroke Care
June 8, 2010Award is Highest Level of Recognition Available from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
TRENTON, NJ – Capital Health’s stroke program has again been recognized for excellence. The healthcare system was recently awarded the 2010 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Capital Health’s commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.
“The commitment of the team at Capital Health is extraordinary, and extends through every aspect of care that our patients receive – from the emergency room to treatment and straight through to recovery,” said Dr. James Ware, Medical Director of the stroke program at Capital Health. “To achieve this level of recognition is an acknowledgement of the commitment day in and day out of all of the members of our team and they are to be commended.”
To earn the award, Capital Health achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Performance Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care. Capital Health consistently exceeded these standards.
Capital Health employee Gail Victor, of Trenton, helps educate the public about stroke during
Stroke Awareness Month by distributing reusable bags with the signs and symptoms of stroke on them
at the Shop Rite in Ewing. . Capital Health was recently awarded the Gold Plus award by the
American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for excellence in stroke care.
These measures include aggressive use of medications, such as tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
“Capital Health’s commitment to the stroke patient is very clear: provide outstanding care,” said Dr. Erol Veznedaroglu, director of Neurosciences and Endovascular & Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery at Capital Health. “Providing excellent care is something we work hard to do every day and it’s something we will continue to deliver to the patients who depend on us.”
“Capital Health 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.”
Capital Health Regional Medical Center (CHRMC, formerly known as the Fuld hospital) is in the top 5% for stroke care in the nation according to HealthGrades. CHRMC is also a state designated Comprehensive Stroke Center which establishes it as a leader in providing advanced care for patients suffering from stroke. The healthcare system’s Mercer Hospital is a state designated Primary Stroke Center.
Last year, Capital Health opened the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center of New Jersey, which gave the hospital an even greater ability to treat the most critical cerebrovascular patients utilizing the most advanced technologies and treatments. More than 20 team members joined the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center from Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience including Dr. Erol Veznedaroglu and Dr. Kenneth Liebman as part of an experienced team committed to the care of the most complex stroke and cerebrovascular cases.
Get With The Guidelines–Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their health care professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke.
Through Get With The Guidelines–Stroke, customized patient education materials are made available at the point of discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition, the Get With The Guidelines Patient Management Tool gives health care providers access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every three minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
For more information on Get With The Guidelines, visit www.americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines.