St. Catherine of Siena Medical
Center receives American Stroke Association’s “Get With The
Guidelines” Silver Performance Achievement Award
 Smithtown,
New York - St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center
has received the American Stroke Association’s Get With
The Guidlines SM–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Silver Performance
Achievement Award. The award recognizes St. Catherine’s
commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of
stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment
according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.
“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the GWTG–Stroke
Silver Performance Achievement Award addresses the important
element of time,” said St. Catherine’s Executive
VP and CAO Sharon Kennish. St. Catherine’s has developed
a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of
stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This
includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans,
having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations
and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.
To receive the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Silver Performance
Achievement Award, St. Catherine’s consistently complied
for at least one year with the requirements in the Get With
The Guidelines–Stroke program. These include aggressive
use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation
therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs, and
smoking cessation. This twelve-month evaluation period is
the second in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to
continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to
sustain this award.
“The American Stroke Association commends St. Catherine’s
for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,”
said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., Vice-Chair of the national Get
With the Guidelines Steering Committee and Vice-Chair of the
Neurology department and director of acute stroke services
at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full
implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations
and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and
improving outcomes of stroke patients.”
Get With The Guidelines–Stroke uses the “teachable
moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke,
when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare
professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients
who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still
in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack
or stroke. Through Get with the Guidelines–Stroke, customized
patient education materials are made available at the point
of discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles.
The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand
format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition,
the GWTG Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date
cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.
“The time is right for St. Catherine’s to be
focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing
Get With The Guidelines–Stroke. The number of acute
ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected
to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence
and a large aging population,” said Kennish.
According to the American Stroke Association, each year approximately
795,000 people suffer a stroke — 610,000 are first attacks
and 185,000 are recurrent. Every 40 seconds, someone in the
United States is suffering from a stroke. This deadly condition
accounts for 1 out of every 18 deaths in the United States.
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Contact: Karla Mason
Karla.mason@chsli.org
(631) 862-3523
Fax (631) 862-3943
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