By Emma Dugas, Vitals contributor
Sixteen hospital campuses within Sutter’s not-for-profit network received recognition today from the American Stroke Association (ASA) for providing a high level of stroke care and participating in the ASA’s Get With The Guidelines® program. Additionally, 21 hospital campuses in the Sutter system received recognition from the American Heart Association (AHA) for consistently applying the American College of Cardiology guidelines when treating patients with heart failure and participating in the AHA’s Get With The Guidelines® program.
Stroke Care
Sutter hospitals earning a Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for meeting or exceeded performance-focused quality benchmarks set forth by the American Stroke Association included:
- Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland
- California Pacific Medical Center’s Van Ness and Davies campuses
- Eden Medical Center
- Memorial Medical Center in Modesto
- Memorial Hospital Los Banos
- Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
- Novato Community Hospital
- Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
- Sutter Roseville Medical Center
- Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
- Sutter Tracy Community Hospital
In addition, Sutter Amador Hospital, Sutter Davis Hospital and Sutter Solano Medical Center earned the Silver-Plus Quality Achievement Award, and Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital earned Bronze.
Fourteen of the Sutter hospital campuses honored also earned a place in the Target Stroke Honor Roll, with Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Sutter Tracy Community Hospital and Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital each achieving Elite Plus Honor Roll status.
To qualify for this recognition, these hospitals met quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat acute ischemic stroke. Additionally, 14 Sutter hospital campuses earned a place on the Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, which promotes evidence-based care for patients with this condition.
Finally, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento earned a place on the Advanced Therapy Honor Roll for the second year in a row. 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.
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento was also recently designated an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center, the first hospital at Sutter to receive this accreditation. Each of the other honored hospitals are designated by The Joint Commission as Primary Stroke Centers or higher and serve as a resource available to patients needing stroke-related services.
Cardiology Care
The 2021 Get With The Guidelines® awards also recognizes hospitals that maintain high standards in the treatment of heart failure. Overall, 21 Sutter hospital campuses demonstrated their commitment to providing the most appropriate cardiac care by following nationally recognized, research-based guidelines to treat heart failure and participating in the Get With The Guidelines® program.
Earning a Get With The Guidelines®- Gold Quality Achievement Award for high quality heart failure care are:
- Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (Oakland and Berkeley campuses)
- California Pacific Medical Center (Davies, Mission Bernal, and Van Ness campuses)
- Eden Medical Center
- Memorial Medical Center, Modesto
- Memorial Hospital Los Banos
- Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
- Novato Community Hospital
- Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital
- Sutter Coast Hospital
- Sutter Davis Hospital
- Sutter Delta Medical Center
- Sutter Lakeside Hospital
- Sutter Roseville Medical Center
- Sutter Solano Medical Center
- Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
- Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
- Sutter Tracy Community Hospital
In addition, Sutter Amador earned the Silver Quality Achievement Award for high quality heart failure care.
Three hospital campuses–Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness Campus and Sutter Davis Hospital–also earned recognition for the evidence-based care of patients with atrial fibrillation or AFib, an irregular and often rapid heart rate that is caused by chaotic electrical signals in the heart.
Finally, two hospital campuses–Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Summit Campus and Sutter Delta Medical Center–were recognized as ST Elevate Myocardial Infarction (STEMI Heart Attack) Receiving Centers, as part of AHA’s Mission: Lifeline initiative.
“We are pleased to recognize Sutter Health for their commitment to cardiovascular and stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
Sutter Health proactively implements programs across its integrated network that continuously improve the quality and value of healthcare for patients. Through integration across regions, clinical settings and data environments Sutter delivering care models with some of the best clinical outcomes in the nation. Sutter’s Cardiovascular Health teams use innovative procedures and treatments to care for patients with a wide variety of specialized heart and vascular needs.
