University Hospitals Nationally Recognized Once Again for High-Quality Stroke Care

Dr. Amrou Sarraj shows a brain scan to Kelly Montgomery of the UH Neurological Institute.

CLEVELAND — University Hospitals has received numerous American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines^® - Stroke quality achievement awards across the health system, for ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability.

Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.

Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research- and evidence-based guidelines. Get With The Guidelines - Stroke is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to these guidelines, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.

“University Hospitals is committed to improving and maintaining excellent quality of care while consistently adhering to the latest stroke treatment guidelines,” said Amrou Sarraj, MD, FAHA, FSVIN, UH Neurological Institute and Director, Comprehensive Stroke Center and Stroke Systems, George M. Humphrey II Endowed Chair, and Professor of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “In addition to being at the forefront of innovation, our neurology team is dedicated to delivering evidence-based care to every patient we serve. These Get With The Guidelines awards are a testament to the efforts of our physicians, nurses, and caregivers who strive for excellence in stroke care."

Participants qualify for the award each year by demonstrating commitment to quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.

“We are very proud of our long history of excellence in stroke care,” explained Cathy Sila, MD, Chair of the Department of Neurology at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the Gilbert W. Humphrey Endowed Professor of Neurology. “University Hospitals has consistently achieved the highest quality awards from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association since they were first given in 2008. As the health system has grown over the years, those best practices were shared. Our goal is to deliver that highest quality care to each patient, regardless of which medical center they visit.”

The following hospitals received levels of achievement this year across the UH health system:

Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus and Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus
Gold recognizes performance of 24 consecutive months or more. Gold Plus awards are advanced levels of recognition acknowledging hospitals for consistent compliance with quality measures. Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus recognizes 75% of applicable patients experiencing door-to-needle times of 45 minutes or less, and 50% of applicable patients experiencing door-to-needle times of 30 minutes or less. (Door-to-needle times refer to the time between hospital arrival and intravenous thrombolytic therapy (IVT) administration.)

• UH Cleveland Medical Center
• UH Parma Medical Center
• UH Samaritan Medical Center
• UH St. John Medical Center
• Southwest General Hospital (a joint-venture hospital)

Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus and Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite
Gold recognizes performance of 24 consecutive months or more. Gold Plus awards are advanced levels of recognition acknowledging hospitals for consistent compliance with quality measures. Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite recognizes 85% of applicable patients experiencing door to needle times of 60 minutes or less.

• UH Ahuja Medical Center
• UH Elyria Medical Center
• UH Lake West Medical Center
• UH TriPoint Medical Center

Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus and Target: Stroke Honor Roll
Gold recognizes performance of 24 consecutive months or more. Gold Plus awards are advanced levels of recognition acknowledging hospitals for consistent compliance with quality measures Target: Stroke Honor Roll recognizes 75% of applicable patients experiencing door to needle times of 60 minutes or less.

• UH Geauga Medical Center, a campus of UH Regional Hospitals
• UH Portage Medical Center

Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus 
Gold recognizes performance of 24 consecutive months or more. Gold Plus awards are advanced levels of recognition acknowledging hospitals for consistent compliance with quality measures.

• UH Geneva Medical Center
• Western Reserve Hospital (a joint-venture hospital)

Get With The Guidelines – Rural Stroke Gold
This award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward acute stroke care excellence demonstrated by composite score compliance to guideline-directed care for intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely hospital inter-facility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.

• UH Conneaut Medical Center
• UH Geneva Medical Center
• UH Samaritan Medical Center

Target: Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll
UH Cleveland Medical Center also met specific scientific guidelines as a Comprehensive Stroke Center achieving Target Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll for the fifth year for rapid diagnosis and treatment of severe stroke patients requiring thrombectomy procedure. 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 as a transfer.

UH Ahuja, Cleveland, Elyria, Geauga, Geneva, Lake West, Parma, Portage, Samaritan, St. John, and TriPoint medical centers, as well as Southwest General Health Center and Western Reserve Hospital, received Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll awards. These awards recognize hospitals for providing the most up-to-date, evidence-based care for patients with type 2 diabetes who are hospitalized with heart failure, heart attack or stroke.

“We are incredibly pleased to recognize University Hospitals for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, MD, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. “Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates — a win for health care systems, families and communities.”