Hackensack Meridian Mountainside 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 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.

Mountainside Medical Center 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.

“Mountainside is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Tim O’Brien, chief executive officer. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidence-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

Mountainside Medical Center additionally received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”

“We are proud to have been recognized for our dedication to providing quality stroke care for our local communities.” said David Blady, M.D., Stroke Committee Chairman at Mountainside. “By providing disease education, early rehabilitation, and short and long term follow up care in a caring, professional, and safe environment we continue improve upon patient outcomes.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading 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.

Learn more about the Stroke Program at Mountainside Medical Center here.

About Get With The Guidelines^®

Get With The Guidelines^® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.