Western Baptist receives quality award for stroke treatment
Western Baptist Hospital has received the Bronze Quality Achievement Award for stroke treatment, after meeting guidelines in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines program.
The award recognizes Western Baptist’s commitment and success in providing stroke care that meets nationally accepted standards and recommendations. This is the second national recognition of Western Baptist’s stroke center in less than a year. Last fall, it became the first Kentucky hospital west of Bowling Green to earn The Joint Commission’s seal of approval as an advanced primary stroke center.
“With a stroke, time saved is brain saved, and this award addresses the important element of time,” said Larry Barton, president and CEO of Western Baptist Hospital. “Western Baptist has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the Emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.”
To receive the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Bronze Quality Achievement Award, Western Baptist consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program for 90 days. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation. The 90-day evaluation period is the first in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to sustain this award.
“We commend Western Baptist for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chairman of the national Get With the Guidelines Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”
Stroke is the nation’s third leading killer and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds and someone dies of a stroke every 3.1 minutes. In the Commonwealth, it is a major problem – only 11 other states have a higher death rate from stroke than Kentucky, according to the American Heart Association.
Western Baptist also has offered stroke rapid response training to area emergency medical services and other hospital emergency departments, as well as free screenings for the public in several counties.
Meanwhile, the hospital participates in statewide initiatives to improve stroke care, including the Stroke Encounter Quality Improvement Program and the Kentucky Cardiovascular Task Force.
Western Baptist and the University of Louisville Health Care partner in a telemedicine stroke network and, along with the Purchase District Health Department, on a grant to improve community awareness of stroke risk factors, symptoms and treatment.
Anyone with questions about the symptoms of stroke may speak to a Western Baptist nurse on the hospital’s 24-hour Chest Pain and Stroke Hotline at 1-800-575-1911.