BAYTOWN (July 10, 2012) San Jacinto Methodist Hospital received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Associations Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for the second consecutive year.
The hospital received the Silver Achievement Award in 2010 and the Bronze Achievement Award in 2009.
The award recognizes San Jacinto Methodists commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.
To receive the award, SJMH achieved of 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.
These measures include aggressive use of medications, such as tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and this award demonstrates San Jacinto Methodist Hospitals commitment to being one of the top hospitals in the country for providing aggressive, proven stroke care, said Donna Gares, president and CEO of San Jacinto Methodist. We are honored to have received the Gold Plus award for two consecutive years, and will continue with our focus on providing care that has been shown to quickly and efficiently treat stroke patients.
San Jacinto Methodist Hospital is to be commended for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients, said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.
San Jacinto Methodist Hospital has also committed to having the best possible outcomes for victims of in-hospital cardiac arrest by participating in the American Heart Associations latest Get With The Guidelines module, GWTG- Resuscitation.
The goal of this program is to help hospital teams save more lives threatened by cardiopulmonary emergencies through consistent application of the most up-to-date scientific guidelines for in-hospital resuscitation. For more information on services offered at San Jacinto Methodist Hospital, call 832-556-6543.