John Muir Health Awarded Gold Plus Recognition by American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for Excellence in

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- John Muir Medical Center, Concord and John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek were recognized recently by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for providing outstanding care to stroke and heart disease patients using national standards established through the Get With The Guidelines® program. John Muir Health’s medical centers are the only hospitals in northern California to receive the Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award distinction in both heart failure and stroke and two of the three hospitals in California.

More than 1,400 hospitals participate in Get With The Guidelines, a hospital-based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for cardiac and stroke patients following the most up-to-date guidelines, best practices and recommendations. The Gold Plus awards signify that John Muir Health’s medical centers have reached an aggressive goal of treating stroke and heart failure patients with 85 percent or better compliance to core standard levels of care outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for 24 consecutive months.

“We are proud that the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have validated John Muir Health's commitment to quality care,” said Raymond Stephens, M.D., neurologist and stroke program medical director at John Muir Health. “By implementing the Get With The Guidelines evidenced-based guidelines at our medical centers, patients can be assured that they are not only receiving the best possible treatment, but are discharged with the necessary education and knowledge to manage their risk factors and avoid being readmitted to the hospital.”

Get With The Guidelines tools enable John Muir Health’s medical centers to continuously improve the quality of care provided to coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke patients, improve health outcomes, save lives and ultimately, reduce health care costs by lowering recurrence of heart attacks or strokes.

“The Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award is a tribute to our skilled and caring physicians, nurses and staff,” said Neal White, M.D., cardiologist and heart failure medical director at John Muir Health. “Implementing a higher standard of care for heart disease and stroke patients is a collaborative effort that helps improve care, positively impacting patients’ lives.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and is a major cause of disability. The most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease, which often appears as a heart attack. In 2010, an estimated 785,000 Americans had a new coronary attack, and about 470,000 had a recurrent attack.

To learn more about John Muir Health’s award-winning programs and services, including warning signs and treatment options, please visit www.johnmuirhealth.com.

About John Muir Health

John Muir Health is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit health care organization east of San Francisco serving patients in Contra Costa, eastern Alameda and southern Solano Counties. It includes a network of 950 primary care and specialty physicians, more than 6,000 employees, medical centers in Concord and Walnut Creek, including the county’s only trauma center, and a Behavioral Health Center. The health system also offers a full-range of medical services, including primary care, outpatient, lab and imaging services, and is widely recognized as a leader in many specialties – neurosciences, orthopedic, cancer, cardiovascular, emergency and high-risk obstetrics care. For more information, visit www.johnmuirhealth.com.

About Get With The Guidelines

Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.



CONTACT:

John Muir Health
Ben Drew, 925-947-5387
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Cardiology  Hospitals  General Health

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