Oct 12, 2021 Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s Comprehensive Stroke Center Earns National Recognition for Efforts to Improve Stroke Treatment

GWTG 2021 LogoNEW BRUNSWICK, NJRobert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s (RWJUH) Comprehensive Stroke Center has earned the American Heart Association Get with the Guidelines Stroke GOLD PLUS with Honor Roll Elite Plus, Advanced Therapy and the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll achievement awards.

For stroke patients, this means RWJUH has 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 to treat ischemic stroke.

For patients with Diabetes, it means that RWJUH has met quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”

Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.

Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist health care professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.

“This honor is testament to the unwavering commitment to quality, pursuit of innovation and implementation of the most current, best practices to deliver the best possible outcomes for stroke patients in our state,” explains Kiwon Lee, MD, Chief of Neurology at RWJUH; Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; and Medical Director of the RWJUH’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. “This award is the direct result of a collective commitment among all of our teams – neurology, neurosurgery, emergency care, emergency medical services, critical care, nursing, physical rehabilitation, and social work – to provide exceptional care to our stroke patients and return them to an active, healthy lifestyle. We are proud that the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have recognized this commitment and we are equally proud to continue providing residents of our state the most advanced stroke care available.”

Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.

RWJUH’s Comprehensive Stroke Center is certified by the Joint Commission. Joint Commission certification recognizes those hospitals that have state-of-the-art infrastructure, staff and training to receive and treat patients with the most complex strokes. RWJ underwent a rigorous onsite re-certification in the fall of 2017. Joint Commission experts reviewed RWJ’s compliance with the Comprehensive Stroke Center standards and requirements including advanced imaging capabilities, 24/7 availability of specialized treatments, and staff with the unique education and competencies to care for complex stroke patients.

“We are pleased to recognize Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for their commitment to 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, Boston, Massachusetts. “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.”

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 9 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 600-bed academic medical center that serves as the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, orthopedics, bariatric surgery and women’s and children’s care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first designated Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.

RWJUH has been named among the best places to work in health care by Modern Healthcare magazine and received the Equity Care of Award as Top Hospital for Healthcare Diversity and Inclusion from the American Hospital Association. RWJUH Brunswick has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety, including the prestigious Magnet® Award for Nursing Excellence and “Most Wired” designation by Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine. The American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer has rated RWJUH among the nation’s best comprehensive cancer centers. For more Information visit us online at www.rwjbh.org/newbrunswick.

Contact: Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
(732) 937-8568