Alexian Brothers Hospital Network Receives American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines Gold Performance Achieve...( HOFFMAN ESTATES and ELK GROVE VIL...),Health

HOFFMAN ESTATES and ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Alexius Medical Center, Hoffman Estates, and Alexian Brothers Medical Center, Elk Grove Village -- part of the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network -- recently received the American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines(SM)-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) Gold Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment for at least 24 months according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

"With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the GWTG-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time," said Wende Fedder, Director of Stroke Services for the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network. Both St. Alexius Medical Center and Alexian Brothers Medical Center have 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 GWTG-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award, the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network demonstrated 85% adherence in the GWTG-Stroke key measures for 24 or more consecutive months. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs, and smoking cessation.

"The American Stroke Association commends the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols," said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee Member and director of the acute stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "The full implementation of acute care and secondary preve
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