SJCH Receives the ASA's Get With The Guidelines Silver Performance Achievement Award

San Joaquin Community Hospital (SJCH) has received the American Stroke Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Silver Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes SJCH’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.

“Because of the swift nature of strokes, quick response time is a key element in preserving the ultimate well-being of the patient,” said Michelle Goddard, SJCH Stroke Center coordinator. “This recognition is a tangible demonstration of the time and effort that our hospital has dedicated to treating stroke patients.”

SJCH 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 GWTG-Stroke Silver Performance Achievement Award, SJCH consistently complied for at least one year with the 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. This 12-month evaluation period is the second in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to receive this award.

“The American Stroke Association commends SJCH for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national Get With the Guidelines Steering Committee Member 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 of stroke patients.”

GWTG-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 GWTG-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 GWTG Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.

“The time is right for SJCH to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing GWTG-Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” said Robert J. Beehler, SJCH president and CEO.

According to the American Stroke Association, approximately 700,000 people suffer a stroke each year—500,000 are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent. Of stroke survivors, 21 percent of men and 24 percent of women die within a year, and for those aged 65 and older, the percentage is even higher.

A winner of the GWTG-Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award earlier this year, SJCH continues to raise the bar for comprehensive stroke treatment in Kern County. For more information on SJCH’s Nationally Certified Stroke Center—the first ever between Los Angeles and San Francisco—visit www.SJCH.us.