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Suburban Community Hospital Nationally Recognized for Commitment to Providing High-quality Stroke Care
The American Heart Association presents Get With The Guidelines – GoldPlus award for proven dedication to ensuring all stroke patients have access to best practices and life-saving care
East Norriton, PA (07/11/2023) – Suburban Community Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke GoldPlus quality achievement award for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability.
According to the American Stroke Association, 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.
“Suburban Community Hospital is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Jim Hazlett, CNO of Suburban Community Hospital. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Each year, program participants qualify for the award by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing 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 incredibly pleased to recognize Suburban Community Hospital for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, M.D., volunteer chairperson of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group and professor of neurology and director of fellowships of neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “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.”
Suburban Community Hospital also received the American Heart Association’s StrokeSM Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster alteplase.
In addition, the hospital received the American Heart Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. Target: Type 2 Diabetes aims to ensure patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.
Suburban Community Hospital also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center, for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.
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About Suburban Community Hospital – Suburban Community Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute care hospital, and a member of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. For over 65 years, Suburban Community Hospital has been delivering quality healthcare to Montgomery County and the surrounding region. Suburban Community Hospital, originally named Riverview Hospital, opened in 1944. Chartered at 740 Sandy Street in Norristown, PA, Riverview Osteopathic Hospital would provide medical and surgical services to the sick, afflicted, and injured, and would educate persons in the care and nursing. As part of Prime Healthcare Services, headquartered in Ontario, California, Suburban Community Hospital is focused on becoming one of the leaders in technology.
Prime Healthcare is an award-winning hospital management company operating 45 acute care hospitals in 14 states, including Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, Lower Bucks Hospital in Bucks County, and Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County.
About Prime Healthcare and Prime Healthcare Foundation: Prime Healthcare is an award-winning health system operating 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states, providing over 2.6 million patient visits annually. It is one of the nation’s leading health systems with nearly 50,000 employees and physicians dedicated to providing the highest quality healthcare. Fourteen of the Prime Healthcare hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity. Based in Ontario, California, Prime Healthcare is nationally recognized for award-winning quality care and has been named a Top 10 and Top 15 Health System by IBM Watson Health. Its hospitals have been named among the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals” 58 times and have received more Patient Safety Excellence Awards from Healthgrades than any other health system in the past six years. To learn more, please visit www.primehealthcare.com
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 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 12 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.