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Atrium Health Earns National Recognition for High-Quality Stroke Treatment
Twelve facilities honored by American Heart Association for best practices and life-saving care
CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 21, 2022 – Atrium Health has received the American Heart Association’s “Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke” Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award at 12 facilities across North Carolina and Georgia. The designation honors Atrium Health for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
Atrium Health stroke centers that earned the recognition include: Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center, Atrium Health Mercy, Atrium Health Pineville and Atrium Health University City, all in Charlotte; Atrium Health Cabarrus, in Concord; Atrium Health Cleveland, in Shelby; Atrium Health Kings Mountain; Atrium Health Lincoln, in Lincolnton; Atrium Health Stanly, in Albemarle; Atrium Health Union, in Monroe; Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, in Winston-Salem; and Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center, in Macon, Georgia.
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. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke provides health care professionals with the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
“Atrium Health is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to helping patients have the best possible chance of survival and reduced disability after a stroke,” said Dr. Rahul Karamchandani, stroke medical director at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center and co-director of the cerebrovascular program with Atrium Health Neurosciences Institute. "This certification reflects our commitment to providing the highest quality of care for stroke patients and our success is a result of the hard work and dedication of our multidisciplinary stroke team.”
Each year, program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
“We are pleased to recognize Atrium Health for its commitment to caring for those in their community who need cardiovascular and stroke care,” said Dr. John Warner, former president of the American Heart Association and executive vice president for health system affairs at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas. “Hospitals that follow the American Heart Association’s quality improvement protocols often see improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”
Atrium Health also received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite award at Atrium Health Cabarrus, Atrium Health Cleveland, Atrium Health Lincoln, Atrium Health Mercy, Atrium Health Pineville, Atrium Health Stanly, Atrium Health Union and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Carolinas Medical Center received the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
Carolinas Medical Center and Atrium Health Cabarrus also received the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Advanced Therapy award. For this award, hospitals successfully treated at least 50% of qualified stroke patients within 90 minutes of arriving directly to their facility and within 60 minutes of arriving by EMS transport.
Additionally, Atrium Health received the association’s Target: Type 2 DiabetesSM Honor Roll award at Carolinas Medical Center, Atrium Health Cabarrus, Atrium Health Cleveland, Atrium Health Kings Mountain, Atrium Health Lincoln, Atrium Health Mercy, Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center, Atrium Health Pineville, Atrium Health Stanly, Atrium Health Union, Atrium Health University City and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.” This level of recognition above and beyond the achievement awards recognizes a hospital’s targeted approach to providing quality care for patients with type 2 diabetes.
About Atrium Health
Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through innovative research, education and compassionate patient care. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health is an integrated, nonprofit health system with more than 70,000 teammates serving patients at 40 hospitals and more than 1,400 care locations. It provides care under the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist name in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, region, as well as Atrium Health Navicent and Atrium Health Floyd in Georgia and Alabama. Atrium Health is renowned for its top-ranked pediatric, cancer and heart care, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. A recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, Wake Forest University School of Medicine is the academic core of the enterprise, including Wake Forest Innovations, which is advancing new medical technologies and biomedical discoveries. Atrium Health is also a leading-edge innovator in virtual care and mobile medicine, providing care close to home and in the home. Ranked nationally among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals in eight pediatric specialties and for rehabilitation, Atrium Health has also received the American Hospital Association’s Quest for Quality Prize and its 2021 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, as well as the 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Award for its efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care. With a commitment to every community it serves, Atrium Health seeks to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all, providing $2.46 billion last year in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits.