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Chilton Medical Center Receives 2014 Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

May 21, 2014

Pompton Plains, NJ – Chilton Medical Center has received the 2014 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.  The award recognizes Chilton’s commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.

Chilton Medical Center also received the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with the clot-buster  tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. Stroke patients who receive the drug within three hours of the onset of symptoms may recover quicker and are less likely to suffer severe disability. Over the past year, 100 percent of Chilton Medical Center’s eligible ischemic stroke patients have received tPA within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital (known as ‘door-to-needle’ time).

Chilton Medical Center earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period.  These measures include aggressive use of medications, such as antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.  

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award demonstrates Chilton’s commitment to being one of the top hospitals in the nation for providing aggressive, proven stroke care,” said Deborah K. Zastocki, DNP, RN, president of Chilton Medical Center and Vice President, Atlantic Health System.  “This award demonstrates to our community that our patients receive care based on internationally-respected clinical guidelines.”

Chilton Medical Center is designated a Primary Stroke Center by both the Joint Commission and The New Jersey Department of Health. Primary Stroke Center status is earned by hospitals that meet strict guidelines for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke. Additionally, Chilton Medical Center recently launched a telestroke robot program, where patients in the Emergency Department are afforded immediate access, via a remote connection, to the expert neurologists at the renowned Atlantic Neuroscience Institute at Overlook Medical Center. 

“We are pleased to recognize Chilton Medical Center for their commitment and dedication to stroke care,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee and Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce patients’ length of stays and 30-day readmission rates and reduce disparity gaps in care.”According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number four 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. 

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 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 4 million patients since 2001.

About Atlantic Health System

Atlantic Health System, headquartered in Morristown, N.J., is an integrated health care delivery system powered by a workforce of over 16,000 team members and 4,796 affiliated physicians dedicated to building healthier communities. The system is comprised of over 400 sites of care, including six hospitals: Morristown Medical Center, Overlook Medical Center, Newton Medical Center, Chilton Medical Center, Hackettstown Medical Center and Goryeb Children’s Hospital.

It also includes Atlantic Alliance, a Clinically Integrated Network representing 2,500 health care providers throughout northern and central NJ. This network includes more than 900 physicians and providers within the Atlantic Medical Group, as well as members of the Atlantic Accountable Care Organization and Optimus Healthcare Partners which work to enhance patient care delivery.

Atlantic Health System also supports communities through Atlantic Rehabilitation and Atlantic Home Care and Hospice. Facilitating the connection between these services on both land and air is the transportation fleet of Atlantic Mobile Health. Atlantic Health System is a founding member of AllSpire Health Partners, a consortium of five leading health care organizations from the New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania region.