Fort Lauderdale, FL -- Three Broward Health hospitals received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award, given to Broward Health Medical Center, Broward Health North and Broward Health Coral Springs, recognizes each hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based upon the latest scientific evidence.
Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
“We are extremely proud to receive this recognition as it demonstrates Broward Health’s ongoing commitment to delivering quality, life-saving stroke care to patients,” said Bev Capasso, Broward Health Interim President/CEO. “This award reinforces the hard work and dedication of our talented team and Broward Health will continue to strive for excellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients.”
Broward Health Medical Center and Broward Health Coral Springs also qualified for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll while Broward Health North qualified for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus. To qualify for these honor rolls, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability. Broward Health Medical Center, Broward Health Coral Springs and Broward Health North 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 quality measures are designed to help hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.
All three hospitals have also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center or as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
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, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
From trauma to heart care to strokes, Broward Health is a nationally recognized public hospital system that provides world-class healthcare to the entire community. With more than 50 facilities, nearly 2,000 doctors and 8,000 nurses and healthcare professionals, our team is focused on positive patient outcomes and providing excellent care to all.