Adventist Health Glendale has received the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Adventist Health Glendale earned the 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.

Adventist Health Glendale additionally received the association’s Elite/Target: StrokeSM Elite Award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed 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 ischemic stroke.

“Adventist Health Glendale is dedicated to the ongoing quality of care for our stroke patients demonstrated by consistently meeting the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Marion Watson, administrative director, Neuroscience Institute.

“We’re honored to receive this recognition. Our commitment to providing our patients the highest-quality stroke care is centered on current scientific research and best practices,” said Lance Lee, MD, medical director of the Stroke Center at Adventist Health Glendale. “Time is brain. Remembering that simple sentence can make all the difference if you or someone around you ever experiences a stroke. Our team of stroke specialists are dedicated to ensuring that the amount of time that passes between stroke and treatment is minimal.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. 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.