Holy Cross Hospital Stroke Program Awarded the American Heart Association's Gold Plus Award 2015

The Gold Plus Award was presented on May 7. Picured from left - right are: Sharon Harriston, RN, MS, ACNP, CCNS, nurse practitioner, Neuroscience; Shahid Rafiq, MD, medical director, Neurology and Stroke; Judith Rogers, president, Holy Cross Hospital; Cris Carr, director, Process Improvement; Noelle Lang, director, Quality and Systems Improvement, Mid-Atlantic Affiliate, American Heart Association; and Shashi Dudi, data abstractor, Performance Improvement.

Holy Cross Hospital's Stroke Program has been awarded the American Heart Association's 2015 Gold Plus Award, an advanced level of recognition that acknowledges Holy Cross Hospital's compliance with the Quality Measures within the Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Program. Holy Cross Hospital has received the Gold Plus Award for Stroke every year since 2010.

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. Holy Cross Hospital received the Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Award for treating stroke patients with at least 85 percent compliance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for 24 consecutive months.

Holy Cross Hospital is listed as a Recognized Hospital for the Gold Plus designation on the American Heart Association's website, www.heart.org. In addition to the American Heart Association's Gold Plus Award, Holy Cross Hospital is designated an Advanced Primary Stroke Center by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems and by The Joint Commission, the national credentialing organization for hospitals. Holy Cross Hospital was also ranked as high performing in neurology for 2014-2015 by U.S. News & World Report.