Mercy South Recognized for Exceptional Stroke Care

Mercy Hospital South has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines^®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Mercy South earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“Time is brain, which means the sooner we can provide our high quality care, the better the chances of fully recovering from a stroke,” said Elizabeth Schelp, RN, Mercy South stroke program manager. “We’re able to use the resources of the program to measure how well we meet the evidence-based clinical guidelines. Plus, as a Level 1 Stroke Center as designated by the state of Missouri and as the second busiest stroke program in the St. Louis area, we have extensive experience treating stroke victims.”

Additionally, Mercy South received the Association’s Target: Stroke^SM Elite Plus Honor Roll as well as the Target: Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll award. To qualify for the Elite Plus recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.  To qualify for the Advanced Therapy designation, hospitals measuring Door-To-Device (DTD) times in at least 50% of applicable patients within 90 minutes for direct arriving and within 60 minutes for transfer.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.