Washington Regional achieves stroke treatment honor

Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus. The nonprofit hospital announced the award Wednesday (June 7).

The award shows the hospital is providing the most appropriate stroke treatment based on nationally recognized, research-based guidelines from the newest scientific evidence, according to a news release. Hospitals must attain at least 85% of Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and have 75% or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

Hospitals must meet quality measures for reducing the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, to qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus. Washington Regional received the award after meeting “quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period,” the release shows.

A patient loses 1.9 million neurons for every minute a stroke treatment is delayed, said APRN Rebecca Cowie, stroke program director at Washington Regional. “This recognition further demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely. Washington Regional continues to strive for excellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients. The recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke further reinforces our team’s hard work.”