For efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities, Columbus Regional has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Rural Recognition Silver award.
People who live in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than urban counterparts and have a 40 percent higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30 percent increased risk for stroke mortality — a gap that has grown over the past two decades. Columbus Regional Healthcare System is committed to changing that.
The American Heart Association recognized CRHS with the award due to the hospital\’s efforts to improve care for rural residents. All rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines – Stroke are eligible to receive award recognition based on a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics.
“We are proud that our team at Columbus Regional Healthcare System is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in our community who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Jason Beck, CEO. “As a hospital in a rural community, we deal with characteristics, such as extended interfacility transportation times. We’ve made it a goal to make sure hurdles such as that do not affect the standard of care our stroke patients receive.”
“Rural communities deserve high quality stroke care. I’m proud of our team for their commitment to stroke care excellence and this achievement”, said Lucinda McLean, CRHS Stroke Coordinator.
The award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward acute stroke care excellence demonstrated by composite score compliance to guideline-directed care for intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely hospital inter-facility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.
“Patients and health care professionals in Southeast North Carolina face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association. Maddox is also co-author of “Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association”. “Columbus Regional Healthcare System has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”
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 14 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
