Baptist Health La Grange Receives Stroke Award
Focused on delivering the highest level of stroke care, Baptist Health La Grange recently achieved The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Focused on delivering the highest level of stroke care, Baptist Health La Grange recently achieved 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 ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
John Melton, MD, neurologist and Stroke Program director said, “It is a thrill to receive this award regarding our stroke care here at Baptist Health La Grange. “Hard work from an experienced team of professionals has made a major difference in the way emergency stoke is approached, diagnosed, and treated. Specifically, this Gold Plus award reminds anyone in Oldham County that Baptist Hospital La Grange provides fast and up-to-date treatment for acute stroke."
To receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures.
“We are using the latest and greatest evidence-based practice regarding stroke care in regard to our clinical outcomes, said Director of Inpatient care services and stroke Coordinator, Kathy Hahn, MSN, RN, CNRN, CMSRN. “Our team is committed and dedicated to each and every patient. By achieving a Gold Plus award from the AHA/ASA, we achieved 24-months of outcomes either meeting or succeeding goal. It takes a village to care for a stroke patient and we strive to provide the best care possible to our community.”
These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. They focus on appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis and smoking cessation counseling.
Baptist Health La Grange has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
Remember, at the first signs of a stroke, call 911. To learn more about Baptist Health La Grange’s life-saving stroke care, visit BaptistHealth.com/LaGrange.