April 25, 2014
Adventist Medical Center (AMC) has again been recognized
as a leader in the care of stroke patients and is a recipient of the 2014 Get With The Guidelines®
Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American
Stroke Association.
Get With The Guidelines helps AMC provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines,
with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. The
hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis
and treatment of stroke patients at a set level continuously for two years. These measures include
timely and appropriate use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death
and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.
“We are less concerned about awards and more focused on ensuring that every patient receives
the right care at the right time, every time,” states Vitalie Lupu, MD, a Portland neurologist who
treats and admits his patients to AMC. “This award highlights the efforts of the physicians,
nurses, and staff who demonstrate their commitment to ensure that our patients receive care
based on best clinical outcomes.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 4
cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone
suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes and 795,000
people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
“Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality
improvement measures can reduce patients’ length of stay and 30-day readmission rates and
reduce disparity gaps in care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, national chairman of the Get
With The Guidelines steering committee and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke also evaluates hospitals on providing the community access to
information on how to prevent strokes, while helping educate stroke patients how to manage
their risk factors, recognize stroke warning signs and take their medications properly.
About Adventist Health Adventist Medical Center (AMC), located in southeast Portland, is a
nonprofit, 302-bed acute care facility, offering a full range of inpatient, outpatient and emergency
services throughout the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area is the flagship of Adventist Health
services in the Portland area. Adventist Health-Portland, is staffed my more than 2,000 employees and includes 37 primary care and specialty clinics in the metro area.
Adventist Medical Center is part of Adventist Health, a faith-based, not-for-profit integrated health
care delivery system serving communities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Our
workforce of 28,600 includes more than 20,500 employees; 4,500 medical staff physicians; and
3,600 volunteers. Founded on Seventh-day Adventist health values, Adventist Health provides
compassionate care in 19 hospitals, more than 220 clinics (hospital-based, rural health and
physician clinics), 14 home care agencies, seven hospice agencies and four joint-venture
retirement centers. We invite you to visit www.adventisthealthnw.com for more information.
