St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo Earn National Recognition for Efforts to Improve Stroke Treatment
Media Contact: Christina Zicklin, (310) 922-8522, Christina.Zicklin@DignityHealth.org
OXNARD, CA – September 13, 2021 – Dignity Health—St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC) and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo (SJHC) have received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Quality Achievement Award for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist health care professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
“St. John’s Hospitals are honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to helping our patients have the best possible chance of survival and after a stroke,” said Darren W. Lee, President and CEO of St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo. “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke makes it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis to improve outcomes for stroke patients.”
Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
“We are pleased to recognize St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
“Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiatives can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
SJRMC and SJHC also received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
Additionally, both SJRMC and SJHC received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
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About Dignity Health - St. John’s Regional Medical Center
Founded in 1912, Dignity Health - St. John's Regional Medical Center (SJRMC) is a 365-bed, acute care, non-profit hospital located in Oxnard, Calif. Serving Ventura County for more than one hundred years, SJRMC has been named a Top 250 hospital by Healthgrades. As a leader in stroke care, SJRMC is the first and only Certified Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center in Ventura County and is a recipient of the American Heart Association's, Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. Designated as a STEMI Receiving Center, SJRMC is highly recognized for excellence in cardiac care and has been named a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care by Blue Shield of California. Its Cancer Center is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. SJRMC is home to the only all-private room, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Ventura County. Learn more at DignityHealth.org/StJohnsRegional.
About Dignity Health - St. John’s Hospital Camarillo
Founded in 1974, Dignity Health - St. John's Hospital Camarillo (SJHC) is a 58-bed, acute care, non-profit hospital located in Camarillo, California. SJHC is designated as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission and a recipient of the American Heart Association's, Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. SJHC houses Camarillo's first-ever cardiac catheterization lab. The Emergency Department is accredited as a Level III Geriatric Emergency Department. Learn more at DignityHealth.org/StJohnsHospitalCamarillo.
About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.