UC Health’s University of Cincinnati Medical Center and West Chester Hospital have once again received national recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for their commitment to prioritizing quality stroke care for patients.
UC Medical Center has received the 2022 Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Advanced Therapy. West Chester Hospital has received the 2022 Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.
These awards recognize UC Health’s commitment to and success in implementing the highest standard of stroke care by ensuring that every stroke patient receives treatment according to nationally accepted recommendations and standards.
This is the eighth year that UC Medical Center has received the Gold Plus recognition and the fifth year that West Chester Hospital has achieved Gold Plus recognition.
In addition to the Gold Plus award, UC Medical Center received the Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award, having met specific criteria that reduces the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster alteplase, and the Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Advanced Therapy award by meeting specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment to remove the clot causing the stroke.
West Chester Hospital also received Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognition, which means that patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date care when hospitalized due to stroke.
UC Medical Center and West Chester Hospital have earned this prestigious recognition by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.
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 part of the brain cannot receive the blood and oxygen it needs, brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.
UC Medical Center is home to Greater Cincinnati’s first adult Comprehensive Stroke Center, co-directed by Aaron W. Grossman MD, PhD, UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute vascular and interventional neurologist, co-director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center and assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the UC College of Medicine, and Charles Prestigiacomo, MD, FAANS, FACS, UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute neurosurgeon, director, Endovascular and Neurovascular Surgery, and professor at the UC College of Medicine. West Chester Hospital is a Primary Stroke Center, directed by Natalie Kreitzer, MD, UC Health neurocritical care specialist and associate professor at the UC College of Medicine.
“Our most recent data tell us that, on average, someone dies of stroke every 3 ½ minutes in the U.S.,” states Pooja Khatri, MD, co-director of the Stroke Center of Excellence at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and professor in the Department of Neurology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the UC College of Medicine. “Our Comprehensive Stroke Center team of physicians and clinicians are deeply dedicated to delivering the most advanced stroke treatments within the Greater Cincinnati Region that save lives. As leaders in research and clinical trials nationally and internationally, we bring the most promising treatments that enable us to find and offer the newest solutions to stroke treatment and improved outcomes for our patients.”
As a leader in stroke care within the Greater Cincinnati Region, UC Health offers the region’s first Mobile Stroke Unit, which quickly delivers advanced stroke care to those who need it most.