Backus Hospital recently earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers, both of which represent symbols of quality.
“We are thrilled that the Backus stroke team is being recognized with this advanced certification for the high-quality care they offer our patients,” said Donna Handley, president of Backus Hospital. “This certification is especially important given the national statistics which show that someone suffers a stroke in this country every 40 seconds and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.”
Backus Stroke Coordinator Melissa Lawson said the hospital underwent a rigorous onsite review by Joint Commission experts on April 12, 2018. The evaluation focused on stroke-related standards and requirements, program management, the delivery of clinical care and performance improvement at the hospital.
“We are committed at Backus to providing a higher standard of care and service for our patients affected by stroke and their families,” she said.
David Tinklepaugh, MD, medical director of the program, agreed, adding that, “This certification gives us the opportunity to highlight the exceptional stroke care we provide as well as to continually strive to advance our care even further.”
Established in 2003, Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers is awarded for a two-year period to Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals. The certification was derived from the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers,” printed in the Journal of the American Medical Society in 2000, and the “Revised and Updated Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers,” published in the professional journal Stroke in 2011.
