Stroke is the number 5 cause of death in the U.S. and the number 4 in New York State
White Plains, NY (June 1, 2016) – White Plains Hospital has once again received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award as well as Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll status. 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.
The Hospital met specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients, for two or more consecutive years: 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke® achievement indicators and at least 75% or higher adherence with five or more select quality measures in stroke to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
To qualify for the Target: Stroke SM Honor Roll, White Plains Hospital met 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. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.
“We know that each minute without treatment following a stroke can bring devastating consequences on brain function and the ability to recover,” said Michael Palumbo, M.D., Executive Vice President and Medical Director at White Plains Hospital. “This recognition further demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients in Westchester and surrounding areas quickly and safely,” he added.
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.
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, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
“The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize White Plains Hospital for its commitment to stroke care,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get with the Guidelines program.”
Get With The Guidelines-S puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping hospital care teams ensure the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery time. Get With The Guidelines®-S has impacted more than 3 million patients since 2003.
About White Plains Hospital
White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Treatment Pavilion, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center and The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center. The Hospital’s Flanzer Emergency Department is the busiest in Westchester County, seeing nearly 57,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital performs lifesaving emergency and elective angioplasty in its Joan and Alan Herfort, M.D. Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Marie Promuto Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. White Plains Hospital also has outpatient medical facilities in Armonk and New Rochelle. The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and earned its recognition as a Top Performer for Key Quality Measures® in 2015 and 2013. The Hospital is also an eleven-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation, and received Magnet® designation in 2012 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). In 2014 and 2016, White Plains Hospital received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades®, given to only 15% of hospitals nationwide. White Plains Hospital is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System.
For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.
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.