Capital Health Regional Medical Center (RMC) has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Award. This award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
“When the residents of our community need the most advanced stroke care in the region, they look to Capital Health,” said Al Maghazehe, president and CEO of Capital Health. “Over the last decade, we have made an unparalleled commitment to providing high level stroke care. Our recognition through the American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines-Stroke initiative at RMC demonstrates that we never stop working to improve the high quality of care we offer our stroke patients.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of adult disability. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and more than 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
Capital Health Regional Medical Center earned the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus 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, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions
Additionally, RMC received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite award. 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.
Capital Health Regional Medical Center, located in Trenton, New Jersey, is the only Comprehensive Stroke Center in the region certified by The Joint Commission, and one of only nine such hospitals in New Jersey. As part of Capital Health’s Capital Institute for Neurosciences, it is available for patients who require the most advanced treatments for neurovascular and stroke care including neuroendovascular, neurosurgical and stroke services.
If you or a loved one is experiencing signs and symptoms of a stroke, call 911 immediately. To learn more about Capital Health’s commitment to providing advanced care for stroke patients and those with other complex disorders of the brain and spine, visit capitalneuro.org.