Griffin, Ga  June 16, 2011 — Spalding Regional Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines^®–Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award and the Stroke Silver Quality Achievement award  from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. The Gold Quality Award for Heart Failure recognition signifies that Spalding Regional has reached an aggressive goal of treating heart failure patients with 85 percent compliance for at least 24 months to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients. The Stroke Silver Quality Award further recognizes Spalding Regional’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.  The hospital is especially proud to receive this award during its first year as a Primary Stroke Center for the region.

Get With The Guidelines Gold award for heart failure is a quality improvement initiative that provides hospital staff with tools that follow proven evidence-based guidelines and procedures in caring for heart failure patients to prevent future hospitalizations.  Under Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure, heart failure patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants while in the hospital. They also receive alcohol/drug use and thyroid management counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged.

To receive the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Silver Quality Achievement Award, Spalding Regional consistently complied for at least one year with the requirements in the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs, and smoking cessation. This twelve-month evaluation period is the second in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to sustain this award.

“The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association commends Spalding Regional Medical Center for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.  “The full implementation of these guidelines and recommended care is a critical step in saving lives, preventing recurrent hospitalizations and improving outcomes of both heart failure and stroke patients.  Patients are getting the right care they need when they need it.  That’s resulting in improved survival.”

“Spalding Regional is dedicated to making our care for heart failure patients and the care found in our new Primary Stroke Center among the best in the country and implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–program will help us accomplish this goal by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcome for these patients,” said John Quinn, CEO.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association about 5.7 million people suffer from heart failure.  Statistics also show that, each year, 670,000 new cases are diagnosed and more than 277,000 people will die of heart failure.   Further, stroke is now one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term 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 Spalding Regional Medical Center

Spalding Regional Medical Center, part of Tenet Healthcare, is a 160-bed acute care hospital located at 601 South Eighth Street in Griffin, Ga. The hospital has been serving the medical and health care needs of Spalding, Butts, Pike, Lamar, and Henry counties for more than 100 years. Spalding Regional provides a number of services, including specialties in orthopedics, women’s services, cardiac care, Primary Stroke Center, medical oncology services, physical, occupational and speech therapy and sleep and wound medicine. Spalding Regional Medical Center is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.  For information on Spalding Regional, visit www.spaldingregional.com.

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