The American Heart Association recently awarded Northern Arizona Healthcare’s (NAH) Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC) the Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke SilverPlus award for proven dedication to ensuring stroke patients have access to best practices and life-saving care. The award recognizes medical facilities that display achievement in its quality of stroke treatment care, leading to more lives saved and reduced disability.
“NAH is committed to providing outstanding care to all patients, and we’re pleased that our team at FMC has been recognized by the American Heart Association for the quality of care they’re delivering for patients who have had a stroke,” said FMC physician, Anne Richter, MD. “FMC has a dedicated multidisciplinary team who work together to ensure that each stroke patient receives the very best care and that more people in our community can have longer, healthier lives.”
A leading cause of death and disability in the United States, strokes occur 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.
FMC offers acute stroke therapies and can admit patients to a designated stroke unit or to beds specifically assigned for stroke care. NAH continues to grow its neurologist team at FMC, ensuring the local community has access to critical care in time-sensitive situations such as a stroke.
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 their organization’s commitment to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines® allows care providers to also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.
“We are incredibly pleased to recognize Northern Arizona Healthcare’s Flagstaff Medical Center for their 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.”