Local Florida Hospitals receive the Highest National Quality Award for Stroke Care; Honor EMS Teams for Achievement

FLAGLER and VOLUSIA COUNTIES, Fla., May 10, 2018 The Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties each received the Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and the Target Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. This is the highest national quality award for stroke care and recognizes Florida 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. In celebration, each of the Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties hosted a special ceremony to recognize and congratulate the local emergency medical services (EMS) and first responder teams for their role in this achievement. Your dedication to improving care for patients deserves to be celebrated, Maryann Fields, neuroscience administrator for the Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties, said during the hospital's recognition event for the EMS and first responder teams. This distinction demonstrates Florida Hospital's on-going commitment to working together to provide quality care to our patients during their time of need. Through teamwork and collaboration with our local EMS teams, we have closed the gaps that separate stroke patients from timely access to care. By meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients, Florida Hospital DeLand in DeLand, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, Florida Hospital Flagler in Palm Coast, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach, and Florida Hospital New Smyrna in New Smyrna Beach each independently earned the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. With the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients, these measures include evaluating the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments, aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions. In addition, the Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties also received the Associations Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus award. To qualify for this additional recognition, the Florida Hospitals each met quality measures developed to reduce the time between a patients arrival to the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. Earning this recognition, it means that we've not only kept our patients safe, but we've also helped prevent future strokes from occurring, Fields said. We want to say a big thank you to the EMS teams for helping us achieve this dignified distinction. This is truly a big accomplishment, as its a hard one to meet, but it is something we can celebrate together. We are pleased to recognize Florida Hospital for their commitment to stroke care, said Dr. Eric E. Smith, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates. According to the American Heart Association and the 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. About Florida Hospital Central Florida Division - North Region A member of Adventist Health System, Florida Hospitals mission is to extend the healing ministry of Christ. Encompassing seven Florida Hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties, the Florida Hospital Central Florida Division - North Region is the largest hospital system in the area, with 1,226 beds and more than 7,800 employees. The Florida Hospital Central Florida Division - North Region includes Florida Hospital DeLand in DeLand, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, Florida Hospital Flagler in Palm Coast, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida Hospital Oceanside in Ormond Beach, Florida Hospital New Smyrna in New Smyrna Beach, and Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares. About Get With The Guidelines Get With The Guidelines is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Associations 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 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.