Banner Health honored with quality achievement award for stroke care

PHOENIX, June 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Several Banner Health facilities in Arizona have received a prestigious stroke award in recognition of their ability to better diagnose and treat stroke patients, to reduce death and disability among patients and to speed recovery.

Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, Banner Desert Medical Center, Banner Baywood Medical Center, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, Banner Boswell Medical Center and Banner Thunderbird Medical Center received the Get With The Guidelines - Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to the highest level, as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association to treat stroke patients.

The Get With The Guidelines stroke program provides hospital teams with the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines to help achieve better outcomes and a higher quality of life for stroke patients. The Banner facilities earned the award by meeting certain quality achievement measures, which include aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies.

"Banner is dedicated to improving the quality of stroke care and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines – Stroke helps us achieve that goal," said Jacqueline Carter, MD, stroke program at Banner Desert Medical Center and Banner Thunderbird Medical Center. "With this award, our hospitals demonstrate our commitment to ensure the most up-to-date, research-based clinical guidelines are utilized by our stroke teams. Our approach to stroke care supports our mission to make a difference in people's lives through excellent patient care."

The six Banner Health facilities also received the association's Target: Stroke Honor Roll for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with the clot buster tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. People who suffer a stroke who receive the drug within three hours of the onset of symptoms may recover quicker and are less likely to suffer severe disability.

The Get With The Guidelines – Stroke, also helps Banner staff implement prevention measures, which include educating stroke patients to manage their risk factors, to be aware of warning signs for stroke and to ensure they take their medications properly.

"The care our patients receive is our number one priority," said Evelyn Smith, stroke program coordinator for Banner Desert Medical Center. "We provide the most up to date care using research based guidelines with the goal of a speedy recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients."

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number four case 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 4 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality or heart.org/myhealthcare.

About Banner Baywood Medical Center

Banner Baywood Medical Center is an acute care hospital in Mesa, Ariz. The hospital is a Primary Stroke Center and also offers orthopedics, heart care, Emergency care, surgery, cancer care, acute rehabilitation, women's health, and obstetrics. The 50,000 square-foot Emergency department offers advanced Emergency care and medical imaging technology. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/Baywood.

About Banner Boswell Medical Center

Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City, Ariz., specializes in neurosciences, heart care, cancer care, stroke care, orthopedic surgery, physical rehabilitation, neurosciences and stroke care, skilled nursing and Emergency care. Banner Boswell is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit healthcare system with 24 hospitals in seven states. Supporting Banner Boswell's mission of excellent patient care is Sun Health Foundation, which encourages charitable giving to enhance health care delivery. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/Boswell or Facebook.

About Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center

Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center is a community hospital in Sun City West, Ariz. The hospital specializes in orthopedic surgery, heart care, Emergency care, cancer care, and obstetrics. Banner Del E. Webb is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit health care system with 24 hospitals in seven states. Supporting Banner Del E. Webb's mission of excellent patient care is Sun Health Foundation, which encourages charitable giving to enhance health care delivery. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/Webb or Facebook.

About Banner Desert Medical Center

Banner Desert Medical Center is a nonprofit hospital in Mesa, Ariz., providing a range of inpatient and outpatient services. The medical center is one of the most comprehensive hospitals in Arizona and serves as a regional referral center in the East Valley of metropolitan Phoenix. Banner Desert is recognized by U.S.News & World Report for high performance in seven clinical areas. The medical campus is also home to Cardon Children's Medical Center. Both facilities are owned and operated by Banner Health, the largest provider of health care services in Arizona. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/Desert.

About Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center

Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix is a large teaching hospital that has provided medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. The hospital, ranked one of Arizona's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, specializes in heart care, cancer care, high-risk obstetrics, neurosciences and stroke care, organ transplants and Emergency care including a Level 1 trauma center. Banner Good Samaritan is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit health care system with 24 hospitals in seven states. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/GoodSam or Facebook.

About Banner Thunderbird Medical Center

Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, Ariz., specializes in heart care, surgical services, obstetrics and gynecology, Emergency care, behavioral health, cancer care and pediatrics including the West Valley's only pediatric intensive care unit, pediatric Emergency department and Level III neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit health system with 24 hospitals in seven states. For more information, please visit www.BannerHealth.com/Thunderbird.

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SOURCE Banner Health