St. Francis Hospital’s Stroke Center Gets Gold Plus Achievement Award
Award demonstrates the Hospital’s commitment to providing quality care for stroke patients
ROSLYN, NY, May 24, 2011 – St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center® has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award. The prestigious award recognizes the Hospital’s commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients.
The award is the latest nationwide recognition for St. Francis for its neurological expertise. The Hospital has been rated one of the best hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report in Neurology and Neurosurgery. St. Francis has also been cited as having one of the lowest mortality rates in the nation for all of its top rated specialties, including heart and heart surgery.
In addition to the Gold Plus award, the Hospital was recognized on the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll, for improving stroke care. The rating is based on the speed in which a stroke victim receives attention upon arrival at the hospital, also known as ‘door-to-needle’ time.
“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost. This highly regarded, national recognition demonstrates our ongoing commitment to being one of the top hospitals in the country for providing aggressive, proven stroke care,” says Alan D. Guerci, M.D., President and CEO. “We will continue to focus on providing care that has been shown in the scientific literature to quickly and efficiently treat stroke patients with evidence-based protocols.”
The Get With The Guidelines program emphasizes using the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare 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.
“We implemented these guidelines as part of our ongoing focus on enhancing the quality of stroke care. The number of stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” says Paul Wright, M.D., Director of the Stroke Center.
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.
Contact:
Paul Barry, 516-705-6657, paul.barry@chsli.org
Rosemary Gomez, 516-705-6656, rosemary.gomez@chsli.org
