Atrium Health Navicent Celebrates 15 Years of High-Quality Stroke Care

Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center has earned its 13th consecutive American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement award, recognizing the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.

Stroke is the number five 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.

Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research and evidence-based guidelines. Get With The Guidelines - Stroke is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to these guidelines, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.

Each year program participants apply for 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.

“Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center has been honored annually since 2008 for its dedication to providing excellent health care to patients experiencing a stroke, saving lives and reducing disability caused by stroke,” said Atrium Health Navicent Chief Medical Officer Dr. Patrice Walker. “This recognition demonstrates our commitment to continuously improve patient care and utilize the latest treatment guidelines to afford more patients the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives.”

Atrium Health Navicent has also been named to the Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes℠ Honor Roll for the past three years. Since diabetes is a risk factor for stroke, this honor goes hand in hand with the stroke achievement award. The hospital has made great strides in helping central Georgians manage their diabetes. Atrium Health Navicent Healthy Communities’ Diabetes Disease Management program has provided life-changing assistance, successfully reducing the number of patients needing subsequent admission to the hospital for diabetes care.

In addition, Atrium Health Navicent has been named to the Association’s Target: Stroke℠ Honor Roll Elite. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet specific criteria that reduces the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster alteplase.

About Atrium Health Navicent

Atrium Health Navicent is the leading provider of health care in central and south Georgia and is committed to its mission of elevating health and wellbeing through compassionate care. Atrium Health Navicent is part of Advocate Health, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Navicent provides high-quality, personalized care in 53 specialties at more than 50 facilities throughout the region. As part of the largest, integrated, nonprofit health system in the Southeast, it is also able to tap into some of the nation’s leading medical experts and specialists with Atrium Health, allowing it to provide the best care close to home – including advanced innovations in virtual medicine and care. Throughout its 125-year history in the community, Atrium Health Navicent has remained dedicated to enhancing health and wellness for individuals throughout the region through nationally recognized quality care, community health initiatives and collaborative partnerships. It is also one of the leading teaching hospitals in the region, helping to ensure viability for rural health care for the next generation. For more information, please visit www.NavicentHealth.org.

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.