Crouse Health Earns National Stroke and Heart Failure Achievement Awards

Crouse Health has earned the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Stroke ‘Gold Plus’ Quality Achievement Award and the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines Heart Failure ‘Gold Plus’ Quality Achievement Award.

Crouse is the only Central New York hospital to be awarded the Honor Role Elite Plus designation for stroke care.

The awards recognize success in meeting or exceeding standards established by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association through their “Get with the Guidelines” (GWTG) program. This includes consistent application of best-practice, research-based standards of care, which reduce recovery time, disability, and mortality rates for stroke patients, and reduction in hospital readmissions for heart failure patients.

To earn Gold Plus recognition in stroke care, the standards include aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners, and cholesterol-reducing drugs; preventive action for deep vein thrombosis; and smoking cessation counseling.

To earn the Gold Plus award for excellence in heart failure care, standards include the proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies; provision of educational materials to patients on managing heart failure and overall health; and scheduling of follow-up visits.

“Crouse Health is known regionally for excellence in both stroke and cardiac care,” says Crouse Chief Operating Officer/Chief Medical Officer Seth Kronenberg, MD. “This recognition reflects the talent and experience of our clinical teams and their dedicated focus on providing the very best treatment and outcomes for our stroke and heart failure patients.”