Great Plains Health stroke program earns award

Great Plains Health has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award as well as the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus.

The award recognizes the hospital's commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, 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 U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.

"Great Plains Health is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative," said Mel McNea, CEO at Great Plains Health.

Great Plains Health has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.

"We're proud to receive this award as it reinforces the well-organized collaboration and commitment between departments of our hospital working together to truly make an impact and change the outcomes of stroke patients," McNea said.