News

Meritus Medical Center was just notified of its selection as a 2020 Get With the Guidelines^® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Recognition went to the teams on 4 East, 4 West, 4 South, 5 South; in the radiology and emergency departments; the SWAT RNs – who provide support to the nursing staff through response to emergencies - and members of the nursing float pool for the commitment to ensure stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research based guidelines from the latest scientific evidence.

Additionally, the hospital was recognized as a Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll™ award winner, meeting quality measures developed with more than 90 percent compliance for 12 consecutive months.

Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Achievement measures include proper use of medications to speed recovery and reduce death and disability for stroke patients and providing care transition interventions including education on stroke management and scheduled follow-up visits before discharge from the hospital.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.