Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital receives Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
American Heart Association Award recognizes Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital’s commitment to quality stroke care.
ELKIN, NC MAY 21, 2018 ― Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital 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 to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our
stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke
initiative,” said Emily Parks, RN, BSN, Stroke/Education Coordinator. “The tools and resources
provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines
developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital additionally received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite
Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to
reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-busting
agent, tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
“We are pleased to recognize Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital 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.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, 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 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent
stroke each year.
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Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital (www.hughchatham.org) is a not-for-profit community health care system of physician clinics, home health, and an acute care hospital that delivers high quality, convenient health care to residents of the Yadkin Valley and Foothills region of North Carolina, and to residents of southwestern Virginia. With 800+ employees, Hugh Chatham includes a medical group of more than 70 providers across 26 locations and five counties. Headquartered in Elkin, North Carolina, Hugh Chatham has been recognized nationally for patient safety, clinical quality, and as a leader in using technology to coordinate efficient, cost-effective care.
About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
