The American Heart Association recently recognized Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital for its excellence in stroke care.
Houston Methodist Clear Lake was awarded the AHA’s Get With The Guidelines/Gold Plus Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Quality Achievement Award – a national honor presented to hospitals that meet strict quality measures related to stro
ke diagnosis, treatment and care.
Because time is critical in stroke care, AHA’s Get With The Guidelines: Stroke program gives hospitals research-based guidelines for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients, reducing the possibility of disability or death and allowing for a faster, more complete recovery. The program also works to ensure that hospitals provide patients with education and assistance to manage their health and prevent recurrent stroke.
“This is a significant honor because it recognizes the ongoing efforts our physicians and staff make to improve the quality of care for stroke patients,” said Dan Newman, CEO of Houston Methodist Clear Lake. “The use of evidence-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes is making a significant difference in stroke care across the country, and we are committed to continuing to improve and enhance not just the immediate care we provide when a patient presents, but ongoing care and education to ensure that patients can resume a high quality of life following their stroke and minimize their future risks.”
To qualify for the honor, Houston Methodist Clear Lake met a variety of quality measures designed to reduce the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with alteplase, a clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator.
According to the AHA, stroke is the No. 5 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.
