Contact: Sharon Sopp, 410.740.7646, ssopp@hcgh.org
COLUMBIA, Md.—Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins (HCGH), the community’s largest health care provider, received national recognition for its ongoing commitment to quality care for stroke patients. Through the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s “Get With The Guidelines” program—evidence-based measures that elicit the best possible heart disease and stroke care to patients—the hospital earned a Silver Performance Achievement Award for consistent high marks in stroke treatment.
“Improving quality of life and helping reduce deaths among stroke patients is very important to HCGH and this national recognition demonstrates to our patients and the entire community our ongoing commitment to achieving that goal,” said hospital President and CEO Victor A. Broccolino. “’Get With The Guidelines’ is another great initiative that gives our professionals the valuable information which allows them to run reports tracking quality measures consistent with the most up-to-date treatment guidelines for stroke patients.”
HCGH is one of 569 hospitals in the United States to receive a performance achievement award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. The associations featured HCGH and the other hospitals in a July 28 advertisement in the “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of US News & World Report to recognize their receipt of the “Get With The Guidelines” Performance Achievement Award.
Hospitals are recognized in each category where they achieve at least 85 percent compliance to “Get With The Guidelines” measures. Those hospitals achieving at least 85 percent compliance on 10 quality measures for 12 consecutive months are given the Silver Performance Achievement award.
The stroke module of Get with the Guidelines was developed in 2003; between 2003-2009, participation in the program grew from 99 hospitals to more than 1,300, representing 41 percent of all acute stroke centers in the United States.
Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine is a 227 licensed-bed, not-for-profit, health care provider located in Columbia, Maryland. Serving the community since 1973, the hospital, with a professional staff of more than 800 physicians and allied health professionals, representing more than 70 specialties and subspecialties, and a workforce of more than 1,800, has grown into a comprehensive, acute-care medical center that treats a full range of conditions from neonatal care to oncology and outpatient care to critical care. |