American Heart Association Award recognizes East Cooper Medical Center’s commitment to quality stroke care
Mt. Pleasant, SC — East Cooper Medical Center receives the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
East Cooper Medical Center earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“Everyone at East Cooper Medical Center is dedicated to maintaining high quality care for our stroke patients,” said Patrick Downes, CEO of East Cooper Medical Center. “By implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative, we track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines. The stroke care provided at East Cooper is certainly something we are all very proud of and we appreciate the AHA’s recognition of our efforts.”
“We are pleased to recognize East Cooper Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. 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.
For more information about East Cooper Medical Center or to interview a member of the team about this accomplishment, please contact Marketing Manager Teresa Simmons at (843) 416-6275, Teresa.Simmons@tenethealth.com or PR Manager Daisy Burroughs at (803) 833-0104, Daisy.Burroughs@tenethealth.com.
