Dignity Health San Francisco Hospitals Receive Get With the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

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 Dignity Health St. Mary's Medical Center

Dignity Health St. Mary's Medical Center is an accredited, not-for-profit community hospital that has been caring for the people of San Francisco since 1857. Located across from Golden Gate Park, it is the longest continually running hospital in San Francisco. St. Mary's has been named a 2014 Top Performer in Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission for excellence in patient outcomes. For three consecutive years, from 2014 to 2016, St. Mary's received the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence from Healthgrades. St. Mary's was also recognized as one of the Top 100 Orthopedic Programs nationally by Becker's Hospital Review and is a Certified Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. St. Mary's state-of-the-art Cancer Center offers the full-range of oncology, radiation, and imaging services. Beyond clinical care, St. Mary's is committed to furthering the healing ministry, and to providing high-quality, affordable healthcare to the community we serve.