KINGSTON, N.Y., Dec. 17, 2014 -- HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley has received the “Get With the Guidelines”-Stroke Silver Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality-improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for the treatment of stroke patients.
HealthAlliance has received a Quality Achievement Award from the heart and stroke association every year since it brought together and realigned the former Kingston and Benedictine hospitals in 2009. Those hospitals are now HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus and HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary’s Avenue Campus.
The Get With the Guidelines-Stroke program helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.
HealthAlliance earned the award by meeting specific quality-achievement measures for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
“HealthAlliance is dedicated to improving the quality of stroke care, and the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines-Stroke program helps us to accomplish this goal,” said Sandra Horan, HealthAlliance’s chief nursing officer.
“With this award, our hospital demonstrates our commitment to ensure that our patients receive care based on internationally respected clinical guidelines,” she said.
“We are pleased to recognize HealthAlliance for their commitment and dedication to stroke care,” said Get With the Guidelines national steering committee Chairman Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, executive director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With the Guidelines quality-improvement measures can reduce patients’ lengths of stay and 30-day readmission rates and reduce disparity gaps in care,” he said.
Stroke is the No. 4 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, heart and stroke association figures indicate. On average, someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
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About HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley®
HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley® is the alignment of HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary’s Avenue Campus and Broadway Campus, as well as Margaretville Hospital, Mountainside Residential Care Center and Woodland Pond at New Paltz. As the parent organization with a unified governance structure, the goal of HealthAlliance is to strengthen the quality of care and bring forward enhanced technology to serve the present and future healthcare needs in the Hudson Valley. HealthAlliance and its affiliate facilities are committed to providing compassionate, patient-centered care and to ensuring patient safety, privacy and dignity to all. For further information about HealthAlliance, visit our website at www.hahv.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 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 4 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality orheart.org/myhealthcare.