UR Medicine Recognized for Excellence in Stroke Care

 The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) has once again honored the UR Medicine Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals for having achieved the highest standard of care for stroke. This award identifies hospitals that provide care that can speed the recovery and reduce death and disability for stroke patients.

Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals have received the 2018 AHA/ASA Get With The Guidelines program’s Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.  Strong Memorial was also recognized for the Target: Stroke Honor Role Elite Plus designation, which identifies hospitals that have consistently and successfully reduced door-to-needle time – the window of time between a stroke victim’s arrival at the hospital, the diagnosis of an acute ischemic stroke, and the administration of the clot-busting drug tPA.  If given intravenously in the first four and a half hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.

“This award reflects the investments made by the Medical Center – in people, training, and technology – to provide the most advanced care for stroke patients,” said neurologist Curtis Benesch, M.D., M.P.H., the medical director of the UR Medicine Comprehensive Stroke Center.  “In stroke, time is brain, and this recognition reflects our singular focus to deliver the timely care that can save lives and improve outcomes.”

“At Strong Memorial Hospital and across the UR Medicine system we have dedicated ourselves to providing the highest quality of care for stroke,” said Tarun Bhalla, M.D., Ph.D., the surgical director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center.   “This award is a testament to the work of our outstanding team of nurses, physicians, and therapists and their dedication to stroke victims and their families.”

Strong Memorial Hospital is home to the region’s only Comprehensive Stroke Center, a designation by the Joint Commission that indicates that the hospital either meets or exceeds the highest standards of care required to provide timely and comprehensive care to patients with complex cerebrovascular disease, and Neuromedicine Intensive Care Unit, a 12-bed ICU that provides critically ill patients with complex neurosurgical and neurological life threating illnesses such as stroke.

“We are pleased to recognize Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “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.”

The AHA/ASA Get With the Guidelines program recognizes hospitals that have reached aggressive goals of treating stroke patients and comply with core standard levels of care.  For more information about the Get With The Guidelines program, visit the AHA/ASA website.