Lexington Medical Center Earns National Awards from American Heart Association
May 4, 2014
WEST COLUMBIA, SC – May 4, 2014 – For the fourth time, Lexington Medical Center has received a “Gold Plus” Quality Achievement award for stroke care from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke program. The “Gold Plus” award is the highest honor bestowed to hospitals for stroke care and recognizes commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients.
“Lexington Medical Center is proud to receive this award as it demonstrates our commitment to being one of the top hospitals in the country for providing effective, evidence-based stroke care,” said Vicky Hicks, RN, BSN, CPHQ,outcomes coordinator at Lexington Medical Center.
The honor goes to hospitals with excellent adherence to stroke quality indicators and measures, including aggressive use of proven medications, therapy, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability, and improving the lives of stroke patients.
According to the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, stroke is 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.
A stroke occurs when a blood vessel carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs and begins to die. Warning signs include weakness on one side of the body, slurred speech, facial drooping, confusion and the inability to talk. Risk factors for stroke are untreated high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and high cholesterol. Stroke is an emergency. Call 911 at the first sign of stroke. Modifying your lifestyle can help prevent stroke.
“Recent studies show that patients treated in hospitals participating in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke program receive a higher quality of care and may experience better outcomes,” 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. “Lexington Medical Center’s team is to be commended for their commitment to improving the care of their patients.”
In addition, Lexington Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s “Target: Stroke” award for the first time. This award recognizes hospitals that give stroke patients prompt, guidelines based treatment that’s shown to have a significant impact on recovery.
The American Heart Association also awarded the hospital with its Bronze Achievement Award for the Get With The Guidelines –Heart Failure program and its Gold Achievement Award for the Get With The Guidelines – Resuscitation program. These awards recognize the hospital’s efforts to improve patient care and outcomes for heart failure and cardiac arrest patients, respectively.
Lexington Medical Center has certification from Det Norske Veritas Healthcare, Inc. as a Primary Stroke Center in the Midlands. The Certification Program for Primary Stroke Centers recognizes organizations that follow the best practices for stroke care. Achieving Primary Stroke Center Certification indicates the hospital’s dedication to cultivating better outcomes for patients.
About Lexington Medical Center
Lexington Medical Center, in West Columbia, S.C., anchors a county-wide health care network that includes six community medical centers throughout Lexington County and employs a staff of 5,900 health care professionals. The network also includes comprehensive cardiovascular care, an occupational health center, the largest nursing home in the Carolinas and more than 60 physician practices. At its heart is the 414-bed state-of-the-art Lexington Medical Center, with a reputation for the highest quality care. Lexington Medical Center won “Best Hospital” by readers ofThe State for ten years in a row, “Best Hospital” by readers of the Free Times, “Best Place to Have a Baby” by readers of Palmetto Parent, the “Consumer Choice Award” from the National Research Corporation and the prestigious “Summit Award” from Press Ganey for outstanding patient satisfaction. Visit www.lexmed.com.
