St. Jude Medical Center Earns National Recognition for Stroke Care

Hospital receives top awards from American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Fullerton, CA — St. Jude Medical Center has again received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, as well as the Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Award. These two honors, along with the hospital's recognition by The Joint Commission and AHA/ASA as an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center, place St. Jude among an elite group to have earned all three of the highest honors in stroke care.

The awards recognize St. Jude's success in meeting specific quality measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients, including the use of advanced, evidence-based protocols and guidelines.

“These honors highlight the excellence our physicians and nurses create every day and help explain our success in offering patients the best possible chance at a full and complete recovery,” explains Brian Helleland, Chief Executive, St. Jude Medical Center. “Our stroke team doesn’t simply follow best practices but is at the forefront of elevating and improving practices and outcomes.”

St. Jude Medical Center's nationally-respected program offers round-the-clock access to a dedicated stroke team—including board-certified neurologists, interventional neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, neurointensivists, and experts in neuro-rehabilitation—as well as a state-of-the-art neuro-intervention lab and sophisticated neurological operating suites. The hospital also offers one of Southern California's largest group of board-certified nuero-critical care physicians.

About the awards:

• Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll Award is the highest of three honor roll distinctions offered by the AHA/ASA and recognizes hospitals for achieving the time to thrombolytic therapy within 60 minutes in 75 percent or more of acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA and within 45 minutes in 50 percent of acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA.
• Get With The Guidelines—Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award requires hospitals to demonstrate 24 consecutive months of adhering to research-based protocols and treatment standards, including timed measurements of care and effective discharge planning.
• Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center designation recognizes the significant difference in expertise, resources and training necessary for the treatment of highly complex stroke or neurological conditions. Awarded by the AHA/ASA and The Joint Commission to fewer than 5 percent of U.S. hospitals, the designation honors an elite group of hospitals capable of improving outcomes for even the most high-risk patients.

"We are increasingly able to go beyond simply treating a stroke–and actually prevent or reverse its effects,” explains Radoslav Raychev, MD, Medical Director of the St. Jude Neurointerventional Program. “Stroke remains a leading cause of death and the number one cause of disability, yet the improvements in care available at a handful of hospitals like St. Jude are making those statistics almost meaningless.”  

For more information, please call (714) 871-3280.

About the St. Jude Neurosciences Institute

Our stroke program is part of the St. Jude Neuroscience Institute, a nationally recognized leader in successfully treating a wide range of neurological conditions and injuries in adults and children. Through specialized centers of excellence in stroke, pain management, neurosurgery and neuro-rehabilitation, the St. Jude Neurosciences Institute offers innovative patient-centered care and a relentless commitment to advancing outcomes.