American Heart Association recognizes Riverside for commitment to quality stroke care

Riverside Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes Riverside's commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.

On average, a person suffers a stroke every 40 seconds in the U.S. Furthermore, nearly 795,000 individuals suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the #5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability nationally.

"This achievement, and others like Riverside's Primary Stroke Center designation, ensure when patients suffering a stroke are brought to Riverside they are treated with the highest standard of care by our dedicated team," said Riverside Healthcare President & CEO, Phil Kambic. "In instances when seconds count, like stroke, we are committed to supporting better outcomes for our patients."

By implementing the American Heart Association's Get with the Guidelines Stroke initiative, Riverside utilizes tools and resources to help track and measure success by meeting evidence-based clinical guidelines to improve patient outcomes. Some of these quality measures include:

• Evaluating the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments
• Speeding recovery time and reducing death and disability for stroke patients
• Providing patient education before discharge and scheduling follow-up visits and other care transitions

Learn more about Riverside's awards and quality achievements by visiting riversidehealthcare.org.