Local hospital is honored for stroke treatment

CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System was recently recognized for the stroke care it provides.

The hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines from the latest scientific evidence.

St. Michael earned the award by meeting specific measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients.

“CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Dr. Louise Thornell, VP/ chief nursing officer. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

To qualify for this recognition, St. Michael 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.

“We are pleased to recognize CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System for their commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, nation

al chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee. “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 number five 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.

“Each year, nearly 1 million Americans suffer from a stroke,” said Jennifer Skinner, stroke coordinator at St. Michael. “For reason and to be proactive in stroke prevention, CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System offers patients a chance to learn more about their risks and what options for prevention they have in just a few short minutes through taking a free health risk assessment online at ChristusStMichael. org/StrokeAware.”