Abrazo Arrowhead Campus and Abrazo Central Campus have earned the 2015 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for the treatment of stroke patients and delivering excellent patient care.

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult 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, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

“We’re proud that Abrazo Arrowhead Campus and Abrazo Central Campus are among the hospitals recognized by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for turning treatment guidelines into lifelines,” said William Ellert, Abrazo Community Health Network Chief Medical Officer.  “With these awards, our hospitals demonstrate our commitment to ensure that our patients receive quality stroke care based on internationally-respected clinical guidelines.”

This is the third consecutive Gold Plus Quality achievement award that Abrazo Central Campus (formerly Phoenix Baptist Hospital), 2000 W. Bethany Home Road, has received for its stroke program, after being recognized in 2013 and 2014.Get With The Guidelines Stroke 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.

Abrazo Central Campus earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for 24 consecutive months.  These measures include aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

In addition to the Gold Plus Quality achievement award, Abrazo Arrowhead Campus and Abrazo Central Campus also each received the Association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite award. The Honor Roll Elite designation is for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between the patient’s arrival to the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster, plasminogen activator, tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat acuteischemic stroke. People who suffer a stroke who receive the drug within four and a half hours of the onset of symptoms may recover quicker and are less likely to suffer severe disability.

The Target: Stroke quality improvement program is aimed at improving door-to-needle times, increasing the number of patients receiving thrombolytic therapy in that time frame, but that improvement was associated with lower in-hospital mortality and more patients discharged home. To achieve this award, the hospital must demonstrate that 75 percent or more of eligible patients receive this treatment and are treated within 60 minutes from the time they arrive at the hospital.

Abrazo Central Campus has a state-of-the-art endovascular suite. It includes a Biplane Neuroangiography System which allows surgeons to deliver potentially life-saving care to patients with speed and accuracy by providing enhanced visualizations of the brain and spine, treatment that reduces the risk of additional problems and will also expedite recovery.