BRIDGEPORT, CT (July 11, 2024) – Bridgeport Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® –Stroke Silver Plus quality achievement award 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 fifth leading 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.
“Bridgeport Hospital is committed to providing world class quality stroke care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and streamlining processes to ensure timely, safe and quality care for stroke patients on a daily basis. This allows us to ensure more people in our Bridgeport community experience longer, healthier lives,” said Jennifer Reynolds, MSN, RN, stroke program manager at Bridgeport Hospital.
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 Bridgeport Hospital for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, MD, volunteer chairperson of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group and professor of neurology and director of fellowships of neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “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.”
Bridgeport Hospital also received the American Heart Association’s Target: Stroke Elite award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with thrombolytic therapy.
The hospital was also awarded the American Heart Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll award. Target: Type 2 Diabetes 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.
Bridgeport Hospital, part of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit 501-bed acute care hospital with two campuses (plus 42 beds licensed to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital). Both Bridgeport Hospital and the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital serve patients throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. The hospital admits more than 30,000 patients and provides over 600,000 outpatient treatments annually. The Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital is the only burn center in the state and one of only 80 verified burn centers in the United States. Bridgeport Hospital is committed to providing safe, compassionate and cost-efficient care to its patients and the community. It has the prestigious Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. www.bridgeporthospital.org
