UAMS Stroke Care Celebrated by American Heart Association
| The quality of care for stroke patients at UAMS was recognized today in an online awards celebration hosted by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
The UAMS Stroke Program was noted for recent accomplishments, including Get with the Guidelines Target Stroke Honor Roll Gold Plus award, and its certification by The Joint Commission as central Arkansas’ first and only Comprehensive Stroke Center.
“Our priority is always quality of care, so we’re grateful for the recognition of the emphasis we place on compliance to rigorous, nationally recognized standards of care for our stroke patients,” said Marzella Backus, M.N.Sc., RN, director of the UAMS Stroke Program.
The Digital Awards Celebration for Arkansas was hosted on Facebook live and broadcast by the Arkansas chapter of the American Heart Association.
Joyce Taylor, executive director of the Central Arkansas office of the American Heart Association, noted the support and commitment of UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, to the American Heart Association, as well as the involvement of UAMS College of Nursing researchers Jean McSweeney, Ph.D., RN, and Claudia Barone, Ph.D., RN, in the Arkansas chapter’s board of advisors.
The Target Stroke Honor Roll recognition acknowledges the program’s compliance with standards for quick and timely treatment of stroke. The Gold Plus status recognizes the program’s continued high performance by those measures for two or more consecutive years after receiving a Gold or Silver award. UAMS has maintained the Gold Plus status for six consecutive years.
In 2018, UAMS Medical Center became the first health care provider in Arkansas to be certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission. The Joint Commission is an independent, nonprofit organization that evaluates and accredits more than 20,000 health care organizations in the United States.
According to The Joint Commission, the certification is the most demanding accreditation and is designed for those hospitals that have the specific abilities to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases.