Seventeen hospital campuses within Sutter’s not-for-profit system received recognition today from the American Heart Association’s “Get With The Guidelines” program. Four campuses earned two or more awards.

Started by the AHA nearly 20 years ago, the Get With The Guidelines program allows hospitals and healthcare systems to measure quality and identify and address variations in care, to benefit patients.

The registry-based tool offers another advantage: top performers can be publicly recognized for their diligent efforts. Sutter hospitals’ consistent participation in the program shows, earning the organization numerous awards in stroke and cardiac care, year after year.

Teams Rank High in Stroke Care

Sutter Health’s integrated system, which includes 17 stroke centers, is one of the largest in Northern California. Many of Sutter’s stroke centers have advanced certification and all have teams with specialized experience in caring for people who have experienced a stroke.

“At Sutter Health, we take immense pride in the excellence of our stroke programs,” said Dr. Manoj Mittal, Sutter Health medical director of Stroke and Neurocritical Care. “By leveraging virtual care delivery, we provide high-level care across Northern California. Our dedication to quality is strengthened through system-wide standardization, ongoing education, and a constant focus on innovation, including AI-based CT perfusion. We are committed to advancing our care through research, data-driven dashboards, and continuous quality improvement, ensuring our patients receive the best possible outcomes.”

This year an impressive 14 Sutter hospital campuses earned the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award in stroke from GWTG – the highest level of recognition possible.

• Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Summit campus
• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness campus
• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Davies campus
• Sutter Davis Hospital
• Sutter’s Eden Medical Center
• Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
• Sutter’s Memorial Hospital Los Banos
• Sutter’s Memorial Medical Center
• Sutter’s Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
• Sutter’s Novato Community Hospital
• Sutter Roseville Medical Center
• Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
• Sutter Solano Medical Center
• Sutter Tracy Community Hospital

Additionally, Sutter Amador Hospital and Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital each earned Silver Plus Quality Achievement Awards in stroke from GWTG.

Hospitals can also earn a place on the stroke Honor Roll. This list recognizes hospital teams that worked to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the emergency department and their treatment for stroke.

The following 10 Sutter hospital campuses earned the highest level of recognition – Elite Plus – on the stroke Honor Roll.

• Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Summit campus
• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness campus
• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Davies campus
• Sutter Davis Hospital
• Sutter’s Eden Medical Center
• Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
• Sutter’s Memorial Medical Center
• Sutter’s Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
• Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
• Sutter Tracy Community Hospital

Additionally, Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital, Sutter Roseville Medical Center and Sutter Solano Medical Center each achieved the second highest level of recognition – Elite – and Sutter’s Novato Community Hospital earned the Target level on the stroke Honor Roll.

The stroke Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll promotes evidence-based stroke care for patients with diabetes, and 15 Sutter hospital campuses were named on this Honor Roll.

• Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Summit campus
• Sutter Amador Hospital
• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness campus
• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Davies campus
• Sutter Davis Hospital
• Sutter’s Eden Medical Center
• Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
• Sutter’s Memorial Hospital Los Banos
• Sutter’s Memorial Medical Center
• Sutter’s Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
• Sutter’s Novato Community Hospital
• Sutter Roseville Medical Center
• Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
• Sutter Solano Medical Center
• Sutter Tracy Community Hospital

Three Sutter hospital campuses earned a unique accolade that accounts for the varied patient care dynamics faced by rural hospitals. Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital and Sutter’s Memorial Hospital Los Banos each earned the Silver level, and Sutter Amador Hospital earned the Bronze level, Rural Recognition award in stroke.

Finally, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento and Sutter Roseville Medical Center each earned a place on the Advanced Therapy Honor Roll. This is the fifth year in a row for Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento and the second year for Sutter Roseville. This accolade recognizes participating hospitals that met timeliness targets for the removal of blood clots from the brain under image guidance. The procedure, known as endovascular thrombectomy, is not performed at all hospitals.

Cardiac Care Earns High Praise

Five Sutter hospital campuses received awards from the American Heart Association for their outstanding performance in the treatment of patients presenting to the hospital with an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) – a specific kind of heart attack that can be caused by coronary artery disease.

• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Davies campus – Gold Plus Receiving Center
• Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness campus – Gold Plus Receiving Center
• Sutter Delta Medical Center – Gold Plus Receiving Center
• Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Summit campus – Silver Plus Receiving Center
• Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento – Silver Receiving Center

Recognition as a STEMI Receiving Center is designed to showcase hospitals that provide 24/7 support for STEMI. These important facilities coordinate with a network of referring hospitals and emergency medical services to provide guideline-directed STEMI care. All five campuses were also named on the STEMI Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, which aims to ensure that patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date care when hospitalized due to heart attack.

Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento also received Gold Plus award for the high-quality treatment of heart failure, met criteria for Target recognition on the heart failure Honor Roll and was named on the heart failure Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

“Sutter Health is committed to providing the best and most comprehensive cardiac care in Northern California,” said Cynthia Iverson, Sutter’s Vice President, Heart and Vascular Service Line. “Our cardiac care centers continue to be at the forefront, utilizing new technologies and treatments and caring for even the most complex heart conditions.”

Sutter’s cardiovascular health teams use innovative procedures and treatments to care for patients with a wide variety of specialized heart and vascular needs. Through integration across regions, clinical settings and data environments, Sutter delivers care models with some of the best clinical outcomes in the nation.