Date Published: Monday, August 17, 2020
Date Updated: Monday, July 18, 2022
Good Samaritan Hospital and Three Other WMCHealth Hospitals Earn Awards for Stroke Care Excellence
VALHALLA, NY - (August 17, 2020) ― Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY and three other member hospitals of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) – Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY; MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY; and HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, NY – have earned the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get with the Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes each hospital for its commitment to, and success in, ensuring stroke patients receive excellent care based on the latest evidence-based scientific guidelines.
Additionally, Westchester Medical Center received the American Heart Association's Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite award. To qualify for this recognition, Westchester Medical Center met the American Heart Association's quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient's arrival at the hospital and treatment with tissue plasminogen activator, or r-tPA, which the American Heart Association considers "the gold standard" for treating ischemic strokes, which are caused by blood clots.
Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WMCHealth encourages the public to learn more about stroke symptoms and to call 911 immediately if someone shows signs of a possible stroke. Emergency medical services can be directed to take a stroke patient to the closest awarded WMCHealth hospital for expert care, if transport is considered to be safe for the individual.
How WMCHealth Hospitals Achieved Stroke Care Excellence
The WMCHealth Hospitals earned the stroke care awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with current, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Also, upon discharge the hospitals provided stroke care patients with information concerning health management and helped schedule a follow-up visit with the patient's physician.
Westchester Medical Center – The Hudson Valley's Only Comprehensive Stroke Center
Earlier this year, Westchester Medical Center was certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, a designation that represents the most advanced stroke treatment available in a given geographic area*. Westchester Medical Center is the only Hudson Valley hospital certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, and its stroke care teams work in concert with Good Samaritan Hospital, MidHudson Regional Hospital and HealthAlliance Hospital to administer timely stroke care to Hudson Valley residents. Good Samaritan Hospital, MidHudson Regional Hospital and HealthAlliance Hospital are all designated by the New York State Department of Health as Primary Stroke Centers.