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NorthBay nationally recognized for high-quality stroke care

For the sixth consecutive year, NorthBay Health has received the American Heart Association’s GoldPlus Get With The Guidelines – Stroke quality achievement award for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive appropriate, timely treatment.

In addition, NorthBay also earned a spot on the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll by meeting quality measures developed to reduce the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat an ischemic stroke.

NorthBay also earned the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award, which honors its effort to ensure patients with type 2 diabetes receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized with cardiovascular disease or stroke.

Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.

“During a stroke, a patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed. These awards demonstrate our commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely,” said Beth Gladney, N.P., NorthBay’s Stroke Program manager. “NorthBay continues to strive for excellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients. This recognition reinforces our team’s hard work.”

NorthBay President and CEO Konard Jones agreed.

“NorthBay is committed to improving patient care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines,” he said. “The Get With The Guidelines makes it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, and ensure our commitment to provide compassionate care and advanced medicine, close to home.”

“We are incredibly pleased to recognize NorthBay for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, M.D., chairperson of the Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. “Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”