Merit Health Wesley Earns National Recognition for Efforts to Improve Stroke Treatment
9/14/2021
Hattiesburg, MS - Merit Health Wesley has received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With the Guidelines - Stroke Quality Achievement Award for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
Stroke is the number 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.
“Merit Health Wesley is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association once again for our dedication to helping our patients have the best possible outcomes after a stroke,” said Matthew Banks, Chief Executive Officer. “It has been a challenging year in healthcare, and I am proud of our team for ensuring that we maintained the level of quality that these awards require throughout the pandemic.”
Get With the Guidelines - Stroke was developed to assist healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
Additionally, Merit Health Wesley received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
Merit Health Wesley is an Advanced Primary Stroke Center, with processes in place to quickly diagnose patients suffering from a stroke and begin treatment to minimize its effects. To learn more about the stroke care provided at Merit Health Wesley, visit MeritHealthWesley.com/stroke-care.
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 tools and resources to increase adherence to 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 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.
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