Six Valley Health System Hospitals Earn Honors for Stroke Care

Thursday, July 18, 2019
Six Valley Health System Hospitals Earn Honors for Stroke Care

In their ongoing commitment to the rapid evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of stroke, the six hospitals of The Valley Health System (VHS) have all received an American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Quality Achievement Award. These awards recognize the hospitals' commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

“Our hospitals have been focusing on stroke education and stroke diagnosis, intervention and treatment since the mid-2000s,” said Karla Perez, Regional Vice President of The Valley Health System. “According to the 2019 statistics from the American Stroke Association, someone dies from a stroke every 3.7 minutes. Additionally, 46 percent of U.S. adults are estimated to have hypertension [high blood pressure]* which is often called the silent killer and is a top risk factor for having a stroke.

“We are continually educating our community about the risk factors, signs and symptoms of stroke, while simultaneously evaluating, diagnosing and treating both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes in our emergency departments and on our patient care units. It’s an enormous responsibility, and one that clinicians throughout our hospitals take very seriously.”

Each hospital earned its award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

According to the American Heart Association, the VHS hospitals have achieved the following awards:

  • Centennial Hills Hospital earned the Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Award with Target Stroke Honor Roll Elite Achievement Award.
  • Desert Springs Hospital earned the Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Award with Honor Roll Achievement Award.
  • Henderson Hospital earned the Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Award Achievement Award.
  • Spring Valley Hospital earned the Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Award with Target Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Achievement Award.
  • Summerlin Hospital earned the Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Award with Target Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Achievement Award.
  • Valley Hospital earned the Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Award with Target Stroke Honor Roll Elite Achievement Award.

The Target: Stroke Honor Roll awards recognize that hospitals have met quality measures to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat stroke.

*https://professional.heart.org/professional/ScienceNews/UCM_503383_Heart-Disease-and-Stroke-Statistics---2019-Update.jsp