Manatee Memorial Hospital Receives Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Friday, June 22, 2018
Manatee Memorial Hospital Receives Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Staff of the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center at Manatee Memorial Hospital

Manatee Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for the tenth year. 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.

Manatee 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 and get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“Manatee Memorial Hospital is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by continuing to implement the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Kevin DiLallo, CEO, Manatee Memorial Hospital. "Receiving this for the tenth year reinforces our team’s hard work and commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely.”

Manatee Memorial Hospital additionally received the association’s Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll award for the second year. 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-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

Manatee Memorial Hospital has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.

“We are pleased to recognize Manatee Memorial Hospital for its commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. Smith, MD, 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.

About Manatee Memorial Hospital

Manatee Memorial Hospital, a member of the Manatee Healthcare System, has served the residents of Manatee and surrounding counties for 65 years and provided high quality medical services to over 81,500 in its emergency room in 2017. The hospital offers advanced healthcare services in a caring and compassionate environment. The range of medical services includes emergency medicine for all ages; cardiac; cardiovascular; surgical; orthopedics; outpatient; radiology services; rehabilitation; respiratory care; sleep services; oncology; wound care and women’s and children’s services, including breast care services, Family BirthPlace and the only Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Pediatric Center in the county.

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.

For additional information, please contact Vernon DeSear, Vice President, Manatee Healthcare System, at 941-745-7306 or vernon.desear@mmhhs.com, or Betty Chambliss, Director of Marketing and Communications, at 941-745-7545 or betty.chambliss@mmhhs.com.