Long Beach Memorial Receives American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Gold Performance Achievement Award

LONG BEACH, CA, Jan. 25, 2010 -- Long Beach Memorial recently received the American Stroke Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Long Beach Memorial’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time,” said Angie West, R.N. and program director of Long Beach Memorial’s Neuro/Stroke Program. Long Beach Memorial has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.

To receive the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award, Long Beach Memorial demonstrated 85 percent adherence in the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke key measures for 24 or more consecutive months. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs, and smoking cessation.

“The American Stroke Association commends Long Beach Memorial for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., vice-chair of the national Get With the Guidelines Steering Committee and director of acute stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”

Get With The Guidelines–Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their health care professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke. Through Get With The Guidelines–Stroke, customized patient education materials are made available at the point of discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition, the Get With The Guidelines Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.

According to the American Stroke Association, each year approximately 795,000 people suffer a stroke — 610,000 are first attacks and 185,000 are recurrent. Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States is suffering from a stroke. This deadly condition accounts for one out of every 18 deaths in the United States.

Long Beach Memorial’s Heart and Stroke Program Celebrates Heart Awareness Month

Continuing their dedication to improving health, the hospital’s Heart and Stroke Program is hosting a Women’s Cardiac Health and Stroke Seminar on Feb. 6. Speakers will share the latest prevention and treatment information about heart disease and stroke in women. Participants will learn strategies on how to manage risk factors, such as high cholesterol and glucose, high-blood pressure, obesity, smoking and life-style management. The seminar will include blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose (non-fasting) screenings. The $20 fee will also cover a continental breakfast and lunch. Interested participants may register at memorialcare.org/heart. Registration and screenings begin at 7:30 a.m. and the seminar kicks off at 9 a.m.

About Long Beach Memorial:

Long Beach Memorial Medical Center is one of the nation’s top-rated medical centers and with Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, is the second largest not-for-profit, community-based hospital west of the Mississippi. The 54-acre campus houses 716 beds, employs more than 5,200 people and has more than 800 volunteers.