Baystate Wing Hospital Recognized for Stroke Care
PALMER — Baystate Wing Hospital has received the American Heart Assoc./American Stroke Assoc. Get with the Guidelines Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
Baystate Wing Hospital 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. 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. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care-transition interventions.
“Baystate Wing 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 Dr. Robert Spence, chief of Emergency Medicine for Baystate Wing Hospital and Baystate Mary Lane Outpatient Center. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Additionally, Baystate Wing Hospital received the association’s Target: Stroke Elite award. To qualify for this recognition, 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.
“Since a stroke patient may lose 1.9 billion neurons each minute that stroke treatment is delayed, time to treatment is of the utmost importance,” Spence said. “This award from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognizes the success of our ongoing commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatment to our patients quickly and safely. Our staff works closely with area EMS providers to initiate a stroke alert when they recognize a patient with stroke symptoms in the field. Once they initiate that stroke alert, our team assembles to begin the stroke assessment and treatment the moment a patient arrives in our ER. This award also demonstrates the success of the team’s hard work.”