The George Washington University Hospital Achieves Highest Stroke Recognition from American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Friday, July 5, 2019
The George Washington University Hospital Achieves Highest Stroke Recognition from American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

The George Washington University Hospital (GW Hospital) has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award is the highest stroke recognition possible from the organizations. It recognizes GW Hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

“This award is reflective of GW Hospital’s longstanding commitment to meet this vital healthcare need in our community,” says Kimberly Russo, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of GW Hospital. "For many years, we have significantly invested in our talented staff, technology and capabilities to elevate the quality of care for stroke victims in the D.C. region. Our Comprehensive Stroke Team is having a profound impact on those we serve and we look forward to making our stroke care available to more individuals throughout the region upon the opening of our helipad later this summer.”

Learn more about stroke care at GW Hospital >

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll, GW Hospital had to 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.

“When a stroke happens, minutes matter. Timely and appropriate intervention by a comprehensive stroke team can significantly improve outcomes for a patient,” says Henry Kaminski, MD, Chairman of the Department of Neurology at GW Hospital, The GW Medical Faculty Associates and GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “As part of our continued efforts toward excellence, we are always looking for new ways to innovate our care. We look forward to the addition of our intraoperative MRI (iMRI) in 2020 which will allow us to further advance our lifesaving stroke intervention.”

Last year, GW Hospital became the first in D.C. to offer the RAPID CT Perfusion software, a new class of automated brain imaging software that allows for quick visualizations in reductions of blood flow to the brain. GW Hospital’s continued advancement of capabilities further enhances its designation as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission – one of less than three percent of U.S. hospitals.