Franklin recognized for stroke care

Franklin Hospital received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. According to organizers, the award singles out Franklin Hospital for their commitment to and success in ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

“This award demonstrates our commitment to ensuring patients receive care based on nationally respected clinical guidelines,” said Jean Robert Desrouleaux, MD, the hospital’s director of stroke. “Franklin Hospital is dedicated to improving the quality of stroke care, and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program helps us achieve that goal.”

To receive the award, a hospital must achieve at least 85 percent of the Get With the Guidelines Stroke achievement indicators, which are standards for how quickly and effectively stroke patients are given different treatment options. There are three levels of the award: gold, silver and bronze, depending on how long the hospital has met the guidelines. Franklin Hospital’s gold recognition means that the hospital has met the guidelines for more than 24 consecutive months.

The guidelines include quality improvement measures, discharge protocols, standing orders and other measurement tools. Even people not in the medical field may be familiar with the guidelines. The F.A.S.T method, which can help determine if someone is having a stroke using physical indicators such as a drooping face, weak arms or slurred speech, comes from these guidelines, as does information on how to manage their risk factors before and after leaving the hospital.

More information can be found on the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association website, Heart.org.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, 795,000 people suffer a stroke each year. It is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, and a leading cause of adult disability. On average, someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dies from a stroke every four minutes.

In light of those statistics, Deepak L. Bhatt, national chairman of the Get With the Guidelines steering community, said that Franklin Hospital deserves special recognition for their commitment to stroke patients. The guidelines and indicators shown, he said, are the keys to ensuring the health and welfare of a person who has suffered a stroke.

“Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce length of stay and 30-day re-admission rates, and reduce disparities in care,” he said.

Franklin Hospital, part of the North Shore LIJ Health System, also met guidelines as a designated stroke center set by the New York State Department of Health, which gave them special recognition for the “rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.”

For more information about Franklin Hospital’s stroke program, call (516) 256-6350.