Holy Cross Hospital Stroke Program Awarded the American Heart Association's Gold Plus Award

Pictured left to right: Senayt Assefa, director, Quality Improvement, Mid-Altantic Affiliate, American Heart Association; Cris Carr, director, Process Improvement; Kevin Sexton, president and CEO, Holy Cross Hospital; Sharon Harriston, RN, MS, ACNP, CCNS, nurse practitioner, Neuroscience; and Andrew Barbash, MD, medical director, Neuroscience.

On March 1, 2012, the Holy Cross Hospital Stroke Program was awarded the American Heart Association's Gold Plus Award. The Gold Plus Award is an advanced level of recognition that acknowledges Holy Cross Hospital's compliance with the Quality Measures within the Get With The Guidelines^® Stroke Program.

Get With The Guidelines is a program that helps ensure consistent application of the most recent American Heart Association/American Stroke Association scientific guidelines for patient treatment. Get With The Guidelines - Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) offers six levels of hospital recognition. The Gold Plus Quality Award is the highest level award recognizing performance of 24 consecutive months or more.

Senayt Assefa, director, Quality Improvement, Mid-Altantic Affiliate, American Heart Association, presented the Gold Plus Award to Kevin Sexton, president and CEO, Holy Cross Hospital; Andrew Barbash, MD, medical director, Neuroscience; Sharon Harriston, RN, MS, ACNP, CCNS, nurse practitioner, Neuroscience; and Cris Carr, director, Process Improvement.

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize hospitals for their success in using Get With The Guidelines to improve quality of care for heart disease and stroke patients. Holy Cross Hospital is listed as a Recognized Hospital for the Gold Plus designation on the American Heart Association's website, www.heart.org.