WakeMed Cary Hospital Recertified as a Primary Stroke Center

PRLog (Press Release) - Oct. 25, 2012 - WakeMed Health & Hospitals is pleased to announce WakeMed Cary Hospital has been recertified as a primary stroke center by the Joint Commission.    

As a certified stroke center, WakeMed has proven that it provides quality care to stroke patients and follows national standards and guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients.  The WakeMed stroke team is made up of specially trained physicians, nurses and therapists who are dedicated to the care of stroke patients.

As a testament to the quality care WakeMed Cary Hospital provides to stroke patients, the hospital has also received the Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.  The award recognizes WakeMed Cary Hospital’s commitment to and success in implementing a higher standard of care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted guidelines.

“Recent studies show that patients treated in hospitals participating in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program receive a higher quality of care and may experience better outcomes,” said Lee H. Schwamm, MD, chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. “WakeMed Cary Hospital’s team is to be commended for their commitment to improving the care of their patients.”

Following Get With The Guidelines-Stroke treatment guidelines, patients are started on aggressive risk-reduction therapies including the use of medications such as tPA, antithrombotics and anticoagulation therapy, along with cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation counseling. These are all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. Hospitals must adhere to these measures at a set level for a designated period of time to be eligible for the achievement awards.

WakeMed Raleigh Campus is also certified by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States. On average, someone 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.