The Wynn Hospital of Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®– Stroke Gold Plus Award for the 15th consecutive year. The gold award recognizes the hospital’s performance for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability.
Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.
Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research- and evidence-based guidelines. Get With The Guidelines – Stroke is an in-hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to these guidelines, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.
“We are committed to improving patient care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines,” said Melissa Kelly, RN, BSN, MVHS Stroke Program clinical coordinator. “Get With The Guidelines makes it easier for our experienced teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, ultimately helping patients to recover better. The end goal is to ensure more people in the Mohawk Valley can experience longer, healthier lives.”
Each year, program participants qualify for the award by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.
“We are incredibly pleased to recognize the Wynn Hospital for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, M.D., volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. “Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”
In addition to the Gold Plus Award for stroke, MVHS also received the American Heart Association’s Target: Stroke℠ Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll awards.
- To qualify for Target: Stroke℠ Honor Roll-Elite Award, hospitals must meet specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with thrombolytic therapy.
- Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll Award aims to ensure patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 12 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
About MVHS
MVHS is dedicated to delivering premier healthcare to our region, keeping our patients as the focus of all we do. MVHS strives to be the leading patient-centered medical and healing environment, the employer of choice and the pride of Central New York. MVHS is the parent company of the Wynn Hospital as well as MVHS Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (RNC) and Visiting Nurse Association of Utica and Oneida County. MVHS serves a multi county area of central New York. The MVHS Medical Group has 15 primary care locations. The group also provides services in many specialty areas including Women’s and Children’s Health; General, Cardiothoracic, Vascular, Orthopedic and Neurological Surgery; Advanced Endoscopy, Wound Care, Bariatric, Cardiovascular, Comprehensive Stroke, Cancer, Immune Health, Behavioral Health, Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Pulmonary Critical Care and Urology.
In October 2023, MVHS opened the Wynn Hospital – a new, state-of-the art, 373 bed hospital in downtown Utica. The Wynn Hospital replaces two aging community hospitals, St. Luke’s and St. Elizabeth, and is capable of handling 85-90 percent of all healthcare needs in the community. The Wynn Hospital will strengthen and grow full service cardiac offerings, support the development of a Neurosciences Institute that will include a Neurovascular Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center, will be a world class diagnostic center, including Interventional Radiology and Advanced Endoscopy and provides a Level III Trauma Center plus the ability to serve 90,000 emergency visits per year.
For more information, visit mvhealthsystem.org and find us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
