Heart association recognizes Griffin Hospital in Derby

For high quality care to stroke patients

DERBY - Griffin Hospital was recently recognized by the American Heart Association for providing high-quality care to stroke patients.

Griffin was awarded the Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement, which recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

The Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program helps Griffin Hospital’s staff provide the most up-to-date, evidence-based care with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. 
The guidelines focus on appropriate use of care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis and smoking cessation counseling. The quick and efficient use of guideline procedures can improve the quality of care for stroke patients and may reduce disability and save lives.

“We are pleased to recognize Griffin Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee. 
“Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce length of stay and 30-day readmission rates and reduce disparities in care.”

To receive the Silver Plus Quality Achievement award, hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for at least 12 consecutive months and during the same period achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures.

Griffin Hospital has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients.

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and this award demonstrates our commitment to ensuring patients receive care based on nationally-respected clinical guidelines,” said Griffin Hospital President and CEO Patrick Charmel. 

“Griffin Hospital is dedicated to making our care for stroke patients among the best in the country. The Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program is helping us reach this goal.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year

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 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 5 million patients since 2001.  

For more information, visit heart.org/quality or heart.org/QualityMap.


This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.