CentraState Receives Award for Quality Care for Stroke Patients

CentraState Medical Center, for a fifth year in a row, has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award. The award recognizes CentraState’s commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines. To receive the Gold Plus award, CentraState achieved 85 percent or higher compliance for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals with five of eight Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.

CentraState also earned the association’s Gold award for demonstrating at least 85 percent compliance in each of the seven Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Achievement Measures.

In addition, CentraState is also the recipient of the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll for improving stroke care, and is among an elite group of hospitals who have earned this recognition. Furthermore, CentraState’s Cardiac Rehabilitation program—which is certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR)—helps patients get back on the road to recovery following a stroke event.

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 serious, long-term disability. On average, someone 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.

CentraState Medical Center is an Advanced Primary Stroke Center with licensed certification from the Joint Commission and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. CentraState has a specially trained Stroke Alert response team which includes an Emergency Department (ED) physician, neurologist, ED registered nurse, and a stroke coordinator, all of whom have special training in caring for stroke patients. The team is available around the clock to assess patients immediately upon their arrival at CentraState’s Emergency Department and initiate appropriate treatment, which may include the administration of a “clot busting” medication. CentraState’s stroke team uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke. For more information about CentraState’s Stroke Center, call 866-CENTRA7 (866-236-8727) or visit centrastate.com/stroke.

About CentraState Healthcare System:

CentraState Healthcare System is a nonprofit community health organization consisting of an acute-care hospital, a health and wellness campus, three senior living communities, a Family Medicine Residency Program, and a charitable foundation. CentraState’s teaching program is sponsored by Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

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 the 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.