Sanford Health Recognized Nationally for Stroke Care
Contact:
Megan Jensen
Sanford Health Media Relations
605-312-4312 / Megan.Jensen2@sanfordhealth.org
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Sanford Health has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement award for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the best treatment.
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.
“Sanford Health is committed to improving patients’ lives by providing world-class healthcare to America’s heartland,” said Dr. Divyajot Sandhu, interventional neurologist at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. “In addition to being the only Joint Commission accredited stroke program in the region, it is an honor to also be recognized for our high-quality stroke care by the American Heart Association.”
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 Sanford Health 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.”
In addition to being recognized for the Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus, Sanford Health received two additional awards from the American Heart Association — Target: Stroke℠ Honor Roll and Target: Type 2 Diabetes℠ Honor Roll. To qualify for these recognitions, 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 and 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.
For more information about Sanford Health’s stroke program, visit SanfordHealth.org keyword: Stroke.
About Sanford Health
Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, is dedicated to transforming the health care experience and providing access to world-class health care in America’s heartland. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization serves more than one million patients and 220,000 health plan members across 250,000 square miles. The integrated health system has 47 medical centers, 2,800 Sanford physicians and advanced practice providers, 170 clinical investigators and research scientists, more than 200 Good Samaritan Society senior care locations and world clinics in 8 countries around the globe. Learn more about Sanford Health’s commitment to shaping the future of rural health care across the lifespan at sanfordhealth.org or Sanford Health News.
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.
