See the news release from Guam Memorial Hospital below:
Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMHA) has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold 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 one the cerebrovascular diseases that are the No. 1 leading causes of death in Guam and a leading cause of disability in both Guam and the U.S. 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.
“GMHA is grateful and honored to receive this recognition of our commitment to providing excellent patient care using the latest treatment guidelines,” said Hospital Administrator and CEO Lillian Perez- Posadas, “Get With The Guidelines® celebrates our teams who have put proven knowledge and protocols to work on a daily basis, which studies show can help patients to recover better. The goal is to ensure more people in Guam live longer, healthier lives.”
Each year, program participants qualify for the award by demonstrating how their hospital has dedicated itself 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.
“The Get With The Guidelines® awards are given for achieving levels of adherence to specified stroke performance measures like how long it took to get a scan, how long it took to start thrombolytics, order labs, provide smoking cessation education, etc.,” said Angelina Eustaquio, PharmD, BCPs, Head of Clinical Pharmacy, “If we achieve 85% on the measures for stroke and in diabetes patients, then we get the Gold. Last year we got Silver and this year, we earned Gold Plus. I am very proud of our team.”
GMHA also received the American Heart Association’s Target: Type 2 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.
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.
“GMHA is very proud to be recognized for our committment to improving patient care by following to the latest treatment guidelines,” said Hospital Administrator and CEO Lillian Perez-Posadas, MN, RN. “Get With The Guidelines makes it easier for our teams to apply proven knowledge and protocols on a daily basis, which studies show can help patients recover better. The end goal is to ensure more people in Guam can live longer, healthier lives.”
“We are incredibly pleased to recognize GMHA for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, M.D., 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.”
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 12 million patients since 2001.
1 Comments
Andy
07/14/2023 at 2:02 PM
Stroke excellence, huh? What a joke! GMH doesn’t even have a functioning MRI machine and there’s not even an in house Neurologist nor in house Interventional Radiologist to assist with your stroke. Most complicated cases go to GRMC for care. I’m glad they are putting some worthless paper on their walls, but let’s be honest for a second. GMH is a failed institution that has scratched the backs of greedy political cronies and grifters for as long as GMHA has been operating. Political appointees with little to no health care experience are running the asylum over there and it shows!
Small accolades like this will not change the fact that GMH is a failed institution that takes the people’s money, wastes it, and says you should be happy we have a hospital. Let me remind all the Kandit readers that GMH has consistently failed its basic CMS certification for many years. That means the nursing care, doctor care, surgeon care, and ancillary services are ALL below acceptable standards.
It’s time for the people of Guam to say “Enough is enough!” You will not take our money, give it to the rich and well to do, then demand more of our money to “fix” your problems. The healthcare system and outcomes in Guam is atrocious. Everyone knows it, but no one is willing to point fingers. This crosses Republican and Democrat administrations. From the Joseph Ada to the Lou Leon Guerrero administrations, the Government of Guam has FAILED! It’s far past time for these “leaders” to be held accountable for their gross mismanagement, fraud, and ineptitude masquerading as confidence.