VALHALLA, NY - (August 18, 2020) ― Four member hospitals of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) – Westchester Medical Center, in Valhalla, NY; Good Samaritan Hospital, in Suffern, NY; MidHudson Regional Hospital, in Poughkeepsie, NY; and HealthAlliance Hospital, in Kingston, NY – have earned the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get with the Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes each hospital for its commitment to, and success in, ensuring stroke patients receive excellent care based on the latest evidence-based scientific guidelines.
Additionally, Westchester Medical Center and HealthAlliance Hospital received the American Heart Association's Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite award. To qualify for this recognition, Westchester Medical Center and HealthAlliance Hospital met the American Heart Association's quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient's arrival at the hospital and treatment with tissue plasminogen activator, or r-tPA, which the American Heart Association considers "the gold standard" for treating ischemic strokes, which are caused by blood clots.
HealthAlliance Hospital also received Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognition for meeting quality measures outlined in the "Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score" outlined by the American Heart Association.
Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WMCHealth encourages the public to learn more about stroke symptoms and to call 911 immediately if someone shows signs of a possible stroke. Emergency medical services can be directed to take a stroke patient to the closest awarded WMCHealth hospital for expert care, if transport is considered to be safe for the individual.
How WMCHealth Hospitals Achieved Stroke Care Excellence
The WMCHealth Hospitals earned the stroke care awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with current, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Also, upon discharge the hospitals provided stroke care patients with information concerning health management and helped schedule a follow-up visit with the patient's physician.
WMCHealth Working Together to Provide Timely and Effective Stroke Care
Earlier this year, Westchester Medical Center was certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, a designation that represents the most advanced stroke treatment available in a given geographic area*. Westchester Medical Center is the only Hudson Valley hospital certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, and its stroke care teams work in concert with all WMCHealth hospitals, including Good Samaritan Hospital, MidHudson Regional Hospital and HealthAlliance Hospital, as well as others who transfer patients here, to administer timely stroke care to Hudson Valley residents. Good Samaritan Hospital, MidHudson Regional Hospital and HealthAlliance Hospital are all designated by the New York State Department of Health as Primary Stroke Centers.
Collaboratively, WMCHealth offers neuroendovascular and other neurointerventional services 24 hours a day, seven days a week along with around-the-clock neurocritical care, neurosurgery and vascular neurology as well as stroke care counsel via telemedicine. Through the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Westchester Medical Center, stroke care experts have access to the latest medical technologies for diagnosis and treatment with specific step-down and general patient units dedicated to neuroscience patients and stroke treatment.
Additionally, WMCHealth is a resource for stroke education and prevention. WMCHealth has a long-term Academic Affiliation Agreement with New York Medical College, hosts professional, stroke-centric learning events for clinical specialists and is also active in the community with stroke education.