The American Stroke Association recently awarded Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola its Get With The GuidelinesSM-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) Gold Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Sacred Heart's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment and education for at least 24 consecutive months according to nationally accepted standards.

Sacred Heart's Regional Stroke Center has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the hospital's emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.
To receive the Gold Performance Award, Sacred Heart demonstrated above 85 percent adherence to key measures in stroke care for 24 or more consecutive months.

"The American Stroke Association commends Sacred Heart Hospital for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols," said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national GWTG-Stroke Steering Committee Member and director of the acute stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "The full implementation of standards is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients."

According to the American Stroke Association, each year approximately 700,000 people suffer a stroke - 500,000 are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent. Of stroke survivors aged 49 and older, 21 percent of men and 24 percent of women die within a year.  For those aged 65 and older, the percentages are even higher.

For more information on Sacred Heart's Regional Stroke Center, please call (850) 416-1600 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.

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If you or a loved one have symptoms of a stroke, call 9-1-1 immediately and ask to be taken to the nearest certified primary stroke center.

Warning Signs of Stroke

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
  Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

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