All Baptist Health adult hospitals recognized nationally for excellence in stroke care

All five Baptist Health adult hospitals have once again earned the highest quality achievement award for stroke care from the American Heart Association. Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, Baptist Medical Center South, Baptist Medical Center Nassau, Baptist Medical Center Beaches and Baptist Medical Center Clay were each awarded the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement award. The recognition underscores the health system’s continuous adherence to proven, research-based guidelines aimed at saving lives and reducing disability for stroke patients across Northeast Florida and South Georgia.

“We have spent more than ten years building and strengthening our comprehensive stroke network,” said Matthew A. Zuino, MSIS, FACHE, president and CEO of Baptist Health. “By connecting hospitals and providers across the continuum of stroke care, we ensure patients receive the right level of specialized care based on their individual needs, regardless of where they enter the system.”

Stroke remains a critical health concern nationwide. According to the American Heart Association, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds in the U.S. It is the fourth leading cause of death, claiming on average 446 lives each day, and is the primary cause of long-term adult disability. Rapid diagnosis and prompt medical intervention are essential to minimizing long-term damage.

“We are proud to serve as leaders in stroke care across the region, continually advancing how we diagnose, treat and care for patients,” said Ricardo Hanel, MD, PhD, neurosurgeon and co-medical director of the Baptist Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center. “Day or night, our expert stroke teams provide timely, specialized care and the latest, innovative treatment options when patients need them most.”

Baptist Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center, located at Baptist Jacksonville, is the regional leader in advanced diagnostics and treatments for strokes, brain aneurysms and other cerebrovascular conditions. Baptist Jacksonville is a Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center – the “gold standard” of stroke certifications – offering the highest quality of care in the region. Its team of neuro-endovascular surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, emergency physicians and nurses, radiologists, neurological nurses, rehabilitation specialists, stroke coordinators and stroke operations team members provide patients with the full continuum of care, from rapid diagnosis and treatment to recovery and rehabilitation.

Additionally, the center extends its reach to 20 hospitals and satellite ERs via the Telestroke Program, which virtually connects physicians and health care professionals in the greater Jacksonville area and South Georgia with Baptist Health’s stroke experts. Accessible 24/7, the program promotes quicker diagnosis and treatment, reduces potential disability and saves lives.

“Stroke care does not begin when a patient arrives at the hospital, it begins in the community,” said neurointerventionalist Nima Amin Aghaebrahim, MD, system medical director for stroke at Baptist Health. “Education is essential to helping people recognize the signs of stroke, understand the need to act fast and know where to turn for care. As the regional leader in stroke care, we have a responsibility to the communities we serve to make sure they have the knowledge and resources needed to respond when every second counts.”

In addition to the Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus award, which recognizes high performance of 24 consecutive months or more, the American Heart Association also presented Baptist Health’s hospitals with the following awards:

• All five adult hospitals in the health system – Baptist Jacksonville, Baptist South, Baptist Nassau, Baptist Beaches and Baptist Clay – received the Target: Type 2 Diabetes℠ Honor Roll award. This honor aims to ensure patients with Type 2 diabetes, who may be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized because of a stroke.
• Baptist Jacksonville earned the Target: Stroke℠ Honor Roll Elite Plus with Advanced Therapy award. Receiving the highest level of recognition in this category indicates the hospital has met key benchmarks that reduces the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at Baptist Jacksonville and treatment to remove the clot causing the stroke.
• Baptist South and Baptist Nassau received the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite award. This achievement demonstrates the hospitals’ ability to meet specific criteria that shorten the time between an eligible patient’s arrival and the administration of clot-busting medication.
• Baptist Nassau was also recognized with the Get With The Guidelines® - Rural Stroke Bronze award. This honor is reserved for hospitals optimizing stroke care to meet the unique health needs of rural communities. It indicates Baptist Nassau has met key benchmarks for reducing the time from an eligible stroke patient’s arrival to clot-removal treatment.

For more information on strokes and Baptist Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center, please visit BaptistJax.com/Stroke.