Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) Gainesville has been recertified as a Primary Stroke Center by DNV GL Healthcare (DNV) while NGMC Braselton received a stroke quality award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA).
“At NGMC Gainesville, we’re honored to have been able to serve our community and the entire North Georgia region as a Primary Stroke Center since 2010,” says Dr. Jonathan Kerrick, neurologist and specialty service line director for Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG). “We always want to treat patients who experience stroke symptoms in the best and fastest way we can, and receiving this recertification proves we accomplish that daily.”
In order to receive the recertification, which happens every three years, a hospital must have the staff, infrastructure and programs to stabilize and treat most emergent stroke patients. The hospital must also provide some acute therapies and admit patients to a designated stroke unit or to beds specifically assigned for stroke care.
“The mission at NGHS is to improve the health of our community in all we do,” says Holley Adams, stroke coordinator at NGMC Gainesville. “Our stroke program is continuing to do that by taking care of stroke patients in the community, ensuring they don’t have to travel far to get treatment.”
The Stroke Program at NGMC Gainesville was also awarded the AHA/ASA Get With the Guidelines Gold Plus Quality Award, as well as the Target: Stroke Honor Roll and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.
The Gold Plus Quality Award recognizes hospitals for their commitment to excellent treatment of stroke patients by following national guidelines to ensure quick, quality care for 24 consecutive months.
In order to be recognized for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll award, a hospital must achieve a 60-minute door-to-needle time – the amount of time between when a stroke patient arrives in the emergency room and when they receive the clot-buster drug tPA – for at least 75% of applicable patients. And for the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, a hospital must demonstrate at least 90% compliance with stroke measures specifically tailored to patients with Type 2 diabetes for 12 consecutive months.
NGMC Braselton was awarded the Get With The Guidelines Silver Plus Quality Award for its commitment to stroke care for 12 consecutive months, as well as the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.
“Earning these awards is a great thing for us, but we truly care about our patients most,” says Kerrick. “Our patients come first. The awards come second.”
To learn more about stroke care offered at NGMC’s Primary Stroke Center in Gainesville, or our Remote Treatment Stroke Centers in Braselton or Barrow, visit nghs.com/stroke-care.