Mercy Medical Recognized for Stroke Care

In recognition of its commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, Mercy Medical Center has received a Get With The Guidelines Stroke Silver Plus Achievement Award from the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association.

Get With The Guidelines is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals to follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations.

To receive the Silver Plus Achievement Award, Mercy achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines Stroke Performance Achievement indicators for twelve consecutive months, along with 75 percent or higher compliance with six of ten Get With The Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.

Mercy also is a New York State-Designated Stroke Center with a dedicated multidisciplinary stroke team that includes emergency physicians, neurologists, neurosurgeons, radiologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, vascular surgeons, and rehabilitation specialists. Stroke-Center designation indicates that Mercy’s team meets nationally-recognized criteria for a strict protocol or program of care for patients presenting with symptoms of stroke with a rapid, definitive treatment plan.

According to the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds, someone dies of stroke every three minutes, and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.