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Valley Baptist Recognized with “Gold Plus” Awards for Care of Stroke Patients
- Updated: July 17, 2015
HARLINGEN – Life-saving care provided by Valley Baptist Medical Center physicians and employees has once again enabled Valley Baptist-Harlingen and Valley Baptist-Brownsville to receive “Gold Plus” awards for care of stroke patients from the American Heart Association for 2015.
The national awards program, Get With The Guidelines, is designed to help ensure that the care hospitals provide for stroke patients is aligned with the latest scientific guidelines.
Stroke is a type of cardiovascular disease that affects the arteries leading to the brain and the arteries within the brain. A stroke or “brain attack” occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts.
STROKE AWARDS – Diana Barrett of the American Heart Association presents awards for care of stroke patients to the Valley Baptist Medical Center Stroke Team, including Dr. Victoria A. Parada, Board-Certified Vascular Neurologist and Clinical Director of Neurosciences and the Stroke Program at Valley Baptist-Harlingen; and Dr. Ameer Hassan, Endovascular Neurologist and Clinical Director of Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology, Neurocritical Care and Clinical Neuroscience Research at Valley Baptist.
“Gold” awards for care of stroke patients indicate that hospitals achieved 85 percent or greater compliance with national quality achievement indicators, as set by the American Heart Association. The “Gold Plus” awards were received by both Valley Baptist hospitals for meeting guidelines for additional quality measures, for at least two consecutive years. These measures – which include aggressive use of life-saving medications — are aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
In addition, Valley Baptist-Harlingen also received a new award, the “Target: Stroke ELITE PLUS Honor Roll Award”, and Valley Baptist-Brownsville received the “Target: Stroke Honor Roll” award for fast response in treating patients who come to the hospital with symptoms of stroke. “Elite Plus Honor Roll” status is given to hospitals which consistently treat stroke patients with life-saving medications within an hour after the patient arrives at the hospital — and within 45 minutes at least 50 percent of the time. When it comes to stroke, every minute counts, because “time lost is brain lost.”
For more information on stroke, consult your physician and visit www.ValleyBaptist.net. In addition, more information is available through a Stroke Support Group which meets at Valley Baptist each month, providing education and support to Valley stroke patients, family members and care givers. Meetings are free and open to the public, with the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, at 6 p.m. in Valley Baptist’s Woodward Conference Center, 2101 Pease Street in Harlingen. For more information on the support group, please call 1-888-902-5433.
