Washington Regional Receives National Stroke Care Recognition
Washington Regional Medical Center recently earned four American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines® Achievement Awards for stroke care.
Washington Regional earned the Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus, Honor Roll Elite Plus, Advanced Therapy and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll awards, which recognize the hospital’s commitment to ensuring patients experiencing stroke receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence. Washington Regional met specific criteria to achieve each award.
Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus
Washington Regional earned this recognition by reaching an aggressive goal of treating patients in accordance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association® for two consecutive calendar years or more. In addition, hospitals earning this recognition have demonstrated compliance to an additional level of quality during the 24-month or greater period. This is the seventh consecutive year Washington Regional has achieved the Gold Plus designation.
Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus award
To qualify for this recognition, Washington Regional met quality measures to reduce the time between a patient’s arrival to the hospital and thrombolytic treatment with intravenous clot-busting medication to reduce the effects of stroke and lower the chance of permanent disability. This is the third time Washington Regional has earned this designation.
Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Advanced Therapy award
Hospitals that qualify for this recognition achieved treatment times (known as “Door to Needle” and “Door to Device” times) of 90 minutes or less in 50% of patients arriving directly to our facility and within 60 minutes or less for 50% of patients transferred from another facility. This is the third consecutive year Washington Regional has achieved this recognition.
Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll - Stroke
Washington Regional achieved this recognition by meeting quality measures developed by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association with an Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score of 80% or greater. This is the fourth consecutive year Washington Regional has achieved the Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award, which was introduced in 2020.
One in four people will have a stroke and stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. As the only hospital in Northwest Arkansas to be certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, Washington Regional is equipped to treat the most complex stroke cases and provides a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients that includes 24/7 in-person care with stroke experts, a dedicated neurosurgical intensive care unit, neuro progressive unit, and specialty clinics that provide follow up care and education.
“Washington Regional is committed to improving patient care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines, and we are honored to once again be recognized by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association,” Director of Neuro Services Kasha Pinkerton said. “The Get With The Guidelines program provides tools and resources that help our team members carry out our mission of improving the health of people in the communities we serve. Studies show these tools and guidelines can help patients better recover following a stroke.”
“We are incredibly pleased to recognize Washington Regional for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, M.D., volunteer chairperson of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group and professor of neurology and director of fellowships of neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “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.”
