Stroke Program at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Receives Performance Achievement Award

LONG BEACH, Calif., March 3, 2009 - The American Stroke Association awarded the Stroke Program at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center (LBMMC) its Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Silver Performance Achievement Award at the association’s International Stroke Conference 2009. The award recognizes LBMMC’s success in providing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring patients receive treatment according to evidence-based guidelines.

“In treating stroke, time to treatment is a key factor in predicting patient outcomes,” said Angela West, R.N., Neuro/Stroke program director, LBMMC. “Receiving the performance achievement award validates our continuing efforts to treat stroke patients quickly and effectively.”

The hospital is tracking its efforts to rapidly diagnose and treat stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available 24-hours-a-day, seven days-a-week to conduct patient evaluations, and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.

To receive the award, LBMMC consistently complied for more than one year with the strict requirements in the GWTG–Stroke program. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs, and smoking cessation education programs.

“The American Stroke Association recognizes LBMMC for successfully implementing proven standards of care for stroke treatment,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., vice chair of the GWTG-Stroke steering committee and vice chairman of the Neurology department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “By meeting award criteria, LBMMC demonstrates its active effort to improve the outcomes of the stroke patients it serves and save more lives.”

“We will continue our focus on providing high quality, science-based stroke care,” says West. “The number of stroke patients is expected to grow over the next decade as the population ages.”

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. According to the American Stroke Association, approximately 795,000 people each year experience a new or recurrent stroke.

The Stroke Program at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center - Long Beach Memorial Medical Center has joined with the “Get with the Guidelines—Stroke” program from the American Stroke Association to provide the most current and effective procedures to improve the overall quality of care for first-time stroke patients and treatments for those who have a history of stroke. The program employs proven, evidence-based treatment guidelines—including those developed by the American Stroke Association, American Heart Association and Brain Attack Coalition.

About GWTG - Get With The GuidelinesSM (GWTG) is the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations.