Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.
The award and honor roll designations recognize Lourdes Hospital for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability.
“Lourdes Hospital’s stroke care team is dedicated to ensuring that all stroke patients have access to best practices and life-saving care. We are honored that the American Heart Association recognized our stroke care team for its work in helping patients have the best possible chance of survival and recovery after a stroke,” Mercy Health – Kentucky President Mike Yungmann said. “Get With The Guidelines makes it easier for our team to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, which studies show can help patients recover better. The end goal is to ensure more people can experience longer, healthier lives.”
The Gold Plus Award is the highest achievement that Lourdes Hospital’s stroke program can earn and marks the hospital’s rapid advancement in providing top-quality stroke care. The hospital’s stroke program launched with protocols in place for outpatients in July of 2020 and inpatients in September of 2020. This honor follows the Joint Commission designating the hospital as a primary stroke center for its comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
Lourdes Hospital also received:
- The American Heart Association’s Target: Stroke Elite award – to qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster alteplase
- The Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll – Target: Type 2 Diabetes aims to ensure patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.
“We are incredibly pleased to recognize Lourdes Hospital for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, MD, chairperson of the Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. “Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”
Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research- and evidence-based guidelines. Get With The Guidelines – Stroke is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to these guidelines, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.
Each year, program participants qualify for the award by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.