Catholic Health Hospitals Receive Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Awards for Delivering High Quality Stroke Care
Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, Kenmore Mercy Hospital and Sisters of Charity Hospital have all received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s (AHA/ASA) Get With The Guidelines®- Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The awards recognize Catholic Health’s commitment to ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to the latest scientific evidence and nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
In addition to the Gold Plus Award, Mercy Hospital, Catholic Health’s Comprehensive Stroke Center, received the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Award, and Mount St. Mary’s received the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Gold Plus Award. To qualify for these additional recognitions, hospitals must meet specific quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with clot-busting tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic strokes.
The Right Way to Care for Stroke
“These independent, national recognitions are further proof that seeking treatment at the nearest designated stroke center is the right way to care,” said Hans Cassagnol, MD, MMM, Executive Vice President & Chief Physician Executive for Catholic Health. “This approach ensures that patients get the care they need quickly and safely, including lifesaving, clot-busting medications; and when needed, have immediate access to all the resources of an Elite Plus Comprehensive Stroke Center at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo.”
According to the AHA/ASA, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
“By following evidenced-based guidelines endorsed by the AHA/ASA, we are not only improving our quality outcomes for stroke care delivered within Catholic Health, we are improving the quality of life for thousands of patients throughout our community,” Dr. Cassagnol added.
