University Hospital Recognized for Highest Level of Stroke Care

University Health System earns American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

University Hospital again has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in providing excellent care for stroke patients by following evidence-based guidelines.

To receive the award, University Hospital achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive years, and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five or more quality measures for two or more consecutive years. These measures include clot-busting medication, anticoagulation therapy, cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking cessation — all aimed at reducing death and disability, and improving the lives of stroke patients.

University Hospital also joins the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll — Elite for improving stroke care. At least 75 percent of the hospital’s eligible ischemic stroke patients have received tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, TPA has been shown to significantly reverse the effects of stroke and reduce permanent disability.

“Providing the right treatment safely and rapidly minimizes the lasting damage from a stroke, and at University Health System our stroke team is committed to providing that high-quality, evidence-based care as quickly as possible,” said George B. Hernández Jr., president/CEO of the Health System. “Our patients deserve the best we can offer, and we are pleased that the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have again recognized our efforts.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States. Some 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.