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Dignity Healths San Francisco Hospitals Receive Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

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Dignity Health Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and Dignity Health St. Mary's Medical Center have both received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes each hospital's commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, evidence-based guidelines.

"A stroke patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed," said Marie McKigney, Saint Francis Memorial Hospital stroke coordinator. "When every second counts, we are proud to be recognized for our excellence in delivering stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely." 

"At St. Mary's, we take pride in our ability to quickly assess and triage stroke patients, which leads to more positive outcomes," said Cheryl Briggs, quality and safety specialist at St. Mary's Medical Center. "Our greatest reward is serving our patients. That's why we're committed to turning treatment guidelines into lifelines."

Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary's Medical Center are both certified by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center and are CARF-accredited (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) in Adult Inpatient Stroke Specialty Rehabilitation. 

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.  

To achieve the Gold Plus Quality Achievement award, hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

About Saint Francis Memorial Hospital

Dignity Health Saint Francis Memorial Hospital is an accredited, not-for-profit community hospital that has been providing exceptional healthcare in San Francisco for more than 100 years. Located atop Nob Hill, near downtown San Francisco, Saint Francis is home to the Bothin Burn Center, the largest in Northern California, the Center for Sports Medicine, and the Saint Francis Orthopedic Institute. With its close proximity to downtown San Francisco, Saint Francis also specializes in Occupational Health and Emergency Medicine. Saint Francis has been designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine and Hip/Knee Replacement Surgery and is a Certified Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. 

Publish date: 

Thursday, March 03, 2016

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Christine McMurry, Director of External Communications

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