OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke quality achievement award for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability. This is the sixth year OSF Saint Anthony has been awarded this honor.
“This award demonstrates our commitment to ensuring patients receive care based on nationally-respected clinical guidelines,” said OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center President, Paula Carynski. “Saint Anthony Medical Center is dedicated to providing the best quality of stroke care and we are committed to implementing the latest technology and improvements to continue to do so. The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke helps us achieve these goals.”
Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research and evidence-based guidelines. Get With The Guidelines - Stroke is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to these guidelines, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.
Each year, program participants qualify for the award by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.
“We are incredibly pleased to recognize OSF Saint Anthony for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, M.D., chairperson of the Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. “Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”
OSF Saint Anthony also received the American Heart Association’s Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster Alteplase.
In addition, OSF Saint Anthony received the American Heart Association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Advanced Therapy award by meeting specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment to remove the clot causing the stroke. This is done through mechanical endovascular reperfusion therapy by one of our interventional neurologists, Dr. Ayman Gheith or Dr. Akram Shhadeh.
OSF Saint Anthony also received the American Heart Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. Target: Type 2 Diabetes aims to ensure patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.
The Get With The Guidlelines awards help OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center maintain it’s comprehensive stroke center designation.