HOLYOKE MEDICAL CENTER HONORED FOR EXCELLENCE IN STROKE CARE
HOLYOKE, MA — June 26, 2018 —Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) has received five prestigious national and state awards for excellence and quality of stroke care in Massachusetts, including the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get with the Guidelines® Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll. The other four awards were presented by the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Angela Smith, R.N., HMC’s Stroke Clinical Manager, stated “with a stroke, time loss equals brain loss. Our team is dedicated to improving patient outcomes with speed and efficiency. We want every patient to have the very best and these awards recognize that we are meeting those goals.”
Recognition for HMC’s stroke program included:
American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s:
- Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll 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. To qualify for the Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll, 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. HMC 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.
Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health:
- Coverdell National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) Rate of 100 Percent Award, recognizing HMC for performing NIHSS assessments on 100 percent of stroke patients from January 2017-December 2017. The NIHSS is an evidence-based tool that is used to provide a quantitative measure of stroke-related neurologic deficit.
- Defect-free Care Award, which recognizes HMC for providing defect-free care for 90 percent or more of its stroke patients, utilizing all of the interventions for which each patient was eligible between January 2017-December 2017. Defect-free care is achieved when a patient receives the appropriate care based on clinical guidelines.
- Modified Rankin Scale greater than or equal to 85% Award, which recognizes HMC as a hospital which completed the Modified Rankin Scale on at least 85% of stroke patients from January 2017-December 2017.
- Dysphagia Screening greater than or equal to 90% Award, recognizing HMC for completing dysphagia screening on at least 90% of stroke patients from January 2017-December 2017.
“Time is of the essence when treating stroke victims. The combined magnitude of Holyoke Medical Center receiving all of these awards is a testament of the hard work our team provides in ensuring the highest quality care is given to every patient, every day, close to home. I commend them once again for their consistency and dedication in making HMC a strong independent community hospital,” said Spiros Hatiras, President and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems.
Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death in Massachusetts, and a leading cause of adult disability. 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. Immediate assessment and treatment is critical to help improve outcomes.
Knowing the key signs and symptoms of stroke and calling 9-1-1 immediately can save a life. The F.A.S.T. acronym is an easy way to remember:
- Face: Does the face look uneven? Ask the person to smile
- Arm: Does one arm drift down? Ask the person to raise both arms
- Speech: Does the speech sound strange? Ask the person to repeat a phrase
- Time: If you observe these symptoms, call 9-1-1
About Holyoke Medical Center:
Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) is a 198-bed independent community hospital with over 1,300 employees serving individuals and families throughout the cities and towns of the Pioneer Valley. The medical staff includes more than 375 physicians and consulting staff. Holyoke Medical Center is a nationally-accredited hospital and received a 2016 Top Hospital Award from the Leapfrog Group for excellence in quality of care and patient safety. This full-service hospital provides a complete line of inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical services, including an award-winning birthing center with the first Baby Friendly designation status in the region. Holyoke Medical Center’s award-winning Stroke Service has been consistently recognized as one of the best in the state for the past decade and has received the 2018 Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Holyoke Medical Center is a member of Valley Health Systems in Holyoke which also includes the affiliates Holyoke Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Life Care, Western Mass Physician Associates and River Valley Counseling Center.
About Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program
The Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded quality improvement collaborative administered by the Massachusetts DPH, that supports Primary Stroke Service hospitals. For more information, please visit:www.mass.gov/dph/heartstroke.
About Get with the Guidelines:
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
About Holyoke Medical Center:
Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) is a 198-bed independent community hospital with over 1,300 employees serving individuals and families throughout the cities and towns of the Pioneer Valley. The medical staff includes more than 375 physicians and consulting staff. Holyoke Medical Center is a nationally-accredited hospital and received a 2016 Top Hospital Award from the Leapfrog Group for excellence in quality of care and patient safety. This full-service hospital provides a complete line of inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical services, including an award-winning birthing center with the first Baby Friendly designation status in the region. Holyoke Medical Center’s award-winning Stroke Service has been consistently recognized as one of the best in the state for the past decade and has received the 2018 Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Holyoke Medical Center is a member of Valley Health Systems in Holyoke which also includes the affiliates Holyoke Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Life Care, Western Mass Physician Associates and River Valley Counseling Center.
About Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program
The Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded quality improvement collaborative administered by the Massachusetts DPH, that supports Primary Stroke Service hospitals. For more information, please visit:www.mass.gov/dph/heartstroke.
About Get with the Guidelines:
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
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PHOTO ATTACHED: Holyoke Medical Center received the awards at the annual Celebration of Success and Award Ceremony hosted by the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry Hospital Collaborative. From left to right:
Anita Christie, Director, Office of Preventative Services, MA Department of Public Health
Theresa McAndrew, Registered Dietitian at Holyoke Medical Center
Darlene Mackey, R.N., Emergency Department, Holyoke Medical Center
Agata Bailey, R.N., Emergency Department, Holyoke Medical Center
Angela Smith, R.N., Stroke Clinical Manager, Holyoke Medical Center
Lee H Schwamm, MD, FAHA, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Executive Vice Chairman of Neurology and Director of the Stroke Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Sarah Moquin, R.N., Emergency Department, Holyoke Medical Center
