Stroke Award

When it comes to strokes, time is brain.

Delaying appropriate treatment can result in long-term and possibly permanent loss of mobility and functionality; therefore, the commitment of having a dedicated stroke team is vital. Multiple agencies have recognized Memorial Healthcare System’s stroke centers at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines for their work and dedication in saving the lives of stroke victims.

Memorial Regional Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Comprehensive Stroke Centers. Additionally, Memorial Regional Hospital has been awarded the Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus and Target Stroke Elite Plus Quality Achievement Awards by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

Memorial Regional Hospital, the flagship facility of the healthcare system, joins an elite group of health care organizations focused on highly-specialized stroke care with The Joint Commission’s designation.

"By achieving this advanced certification, Memorial Regional Hospital has thoroughly demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of its patients with a complex stroke condition,” says Mark R. Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, president and CEO, The Joint Commission. “Certification is a voluntary process and The Joint Commission commends the hospital for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate the standard of its care for the community it serves.”

To be eligible, hospitals must demonstrate compliance with stroke-related standards as a Primary Stroke Center and meet additional requirements, including those related to advanced imaging capabilities, 24/7 availability of specialized treatments, and providing staff with the unique education and competencies to care for complex stroke patients. Memorial Regional Hospital underwent a rigorous onsite review in March 2017 when Joint Commission experts evaluated compliance with stroke-related standards and requirements.

“Being Joint Commission certified promotes a culture of excellence across the organization and creates a framework for program structure and management,” said Zeff Ross, FACHE, Executive Vice President at Memorial Healthcare System and CEO of Memorial Regional Hospital. “It also builds confidence in quality and safety of care, treatment, and services by forming a cohesive clinical team for our patients and the community.”

Established in 2012, Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers is awarded for a two-year period to Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals. The certification was derived from the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for Comprehensive Stroke Centers” (Stroke, 2005), “Metrics for Measuring Quality of Care in Comprehensive Stroke Centers” (Stroke, 2011) and recommendations from a multidisciplinary advisory panel of experts in complex stroke care.

Memorial Hospital West joins Memorial Regional Hospital again this year in achieving the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus. The award recognizes the commitment by both facilities in providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on 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.

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, 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. Both of Memorial Healthcare System’s hospitals earned the awards 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.

Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

About The Joint Commission
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association are devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country. Follow the American Heart Association on Facebook and Twitter.

The familiar Heart-Check mark now helps consumers evaluate their choices in hospital care. Each mark given to a hospital is earned by meeting specific standards for the care of patients with heart disease and/or stroke. The Heart-Check mark can only be displayed by hospitals that have achieved and defined requirements set by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.