White Plains, NY (June 2011) — White Plains Hospital received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award.  The award recognizes WPH’s commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.

To receive the award, WPH achieved of 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.

In addition to the Get With The Guideline-Stroke award, White Plains Hospital has also been recognized as a recipient of the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll, for improving stroke care.  Over the past quarter, at least 50 percent of eligible ischemic stroke patients have received IV rt-PA within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital (known as ‘door-to-needle’ time).

With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award demonstrates WPH’s commitment to being one of the top hospitals in the country for providing aggressive, proven stroke care,” said Maggie Crilly, RN, Stroke Coordinator at WPH.  “We will continue with our focus on providing care that has been shown in the scientific literature to quickly and efficiently treat stroke patients with evidence-based protocols.”

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 healthcare 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.

With the collaboration among members of the interdisciplinary stroke team, WPH has been successful in achieving the Gold Award for the fifth year in a row.