American Heart and American Stroke Associations Recognize AHN Hospitals for Excellence in Heart and Stroke Care

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Press Releases Allegheny General Hospital Cardiovascular Institute Neuroscience Institute

PITTSBURGH - The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) has recognized nine Allegheny Health Network (AHN) hospitals for the high quality of their heart failure, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and stroke care programs.

AHN Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), AHN Allegheny Valley (AVH), AHN Canonsburg, AHN Forbes, AHN Jefferson, AHN Grove City, AHN West Penn, AHN Wexford and AHN Saint Vincent in Erie have each earned the annual American Heart Association's (AHA) Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure Achievement Award, Gold Plus designation, the highest level of achievement.

"The dedication and expertise of our AHN Cardiovascular Institute team are truly remarkable," said Akshay Khandelwal, MD, Chair of Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at AHN. "Their commitment to providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary heart care is evident each and every day, and this recognition is a testament to their tireless efforts to improve health outcomes and enhance the quality of life for our patients."

For outcomes in coronary artery disease (with varying levels of severity), AHN AGH, AHN Saint Vincent and AHN West Penn earned Silver designations, while AHN Jefferson and AHN Wexford received Bronze Plus designations.

Additionally, the AHA/ASA recognized nine AHN hospitals for the high quality of their stroke programs. AHN AGH, AHN Wexford, AHN AVH, AHN Grove City, AHN Saint Vincent in Erie, AHN Forbes, AHN Jefferson, AHN West Penn were awarded the Gold Plus designation, the highest level of achievement, while AHN Canonsburg was awarded the Silver Plus Achievement designations.

AHN was also recognized for its excellence in interventional radiology, specifically for its application in thrombectomy procedures for stroke patients. Designated as an Honor Roll - Advanced Therapy health system, AHN achieved "door-to-device" in under 90 minutes for emergency department patients, and under 60 minutes for direct transfers in more than half of all applicable patients.

According to the ASA, "door-to-device" refers to the time between a stroke patient arriving at the hospital and the start of their subsequent treatment.

It's a crucial metric in stroke care and when clinical stroke teams work diligently to reduce this time, hospitals significantly improve the chances of a positive outcome for their patients, said Russell Cerejo, MD, vascular neurologist at AHN.

"These recognitions reflect our unwavering commitment to delivering the highest quality stroke care across our network," continued Dr. Cerejo. "Our dedication to innovation, along with our collaborative, patient-centered approach, ensures that each individual receives the most advanced treatment options available, improving outcomes and enhancing the lives of those affected by stroke."

Get With the Guidelines is a proven in-hospital approach to improving patient outcomes across cardiovascular and stroke medicine. Each Get with the Guidelines program promotes consistent adherence to the latest research-driven guidelines and measurement, while providing data and information to professionals for continual improvement in patient care.

The AHA/ASA Gold Plus Achievement Awards are given to hospitals that have an 85 percent or higher compliance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the AHA for a period of 24 consecutive months and have demonstrated 75 percent or higher compliance to a self-selected group of quality measures; Silver Plus achievement denotes a period of 12 consecutive months.

For more information on the AHN Cardiovascular Institute, visit: www.ahn.org/services/cardiovascular; for more information on AHN's stroke program, visit: www.ahn.org/services/stroke.

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