Silver Cross Hospital Recertified as a Primary Stroke Center

By Tracy Simons | Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Hospital has once again earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers. The Gold Seal of Approval® and the Heart-Check mark represent symbols of quality from their respective organizations.

Silver Cross underwent a rigorous onsite review in June 2015. Joint Commission experts evaluated compliance with stroke-related standards and requirements, including program management, the delivery of clinical care and performance improvement. Established in 2003, Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers is awarded for a two-year period to Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals.

The certification was derived from the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers” (JAMA, 2000) and the “Revised and Updated Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers” (Stroke, 2011).

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“Silver Cross Hospital has thoroughly demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of stroke patients through its Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers,” said Michele Sacco, M.S., interim executive director, Certification Programs. “We commend Silver Cross for becoming a leader in stroke care, potentially providing a higher standard of service for stroke patients in its community.”

“We congratulate Silver Cross for achieving this designation,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. “By adhering to this very specific set of treatment guidelines Silver Cross Hospital has clearly made it a priority to deliver high quality care to all patients affected by stroke.”

“We are pleased to receive advanced certification from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association,” said Paul Pawlak, President and CEO of Silver Cross Hospital. “The certification provides us with the opportunity to highlight the exceptional stroke care we provide through the Silver Cross Neuroscience Institute as well as to continually strive to advance our care even further.”

Stroke is the number four cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. 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.

“Our goal is to make sure that every patient receives the right treatment at the right time,” says Dr. Kathleen McCahill, Medical Director of the Silver Cross Stroke Program. “The concepts behind Primary Stroke Centers include a heightened state of readiness for stroke patients, making sure hospital-wide mechanisms are in place to rapidly identify and intervene in acute stroke, and a multi-disciplinary team who can deliver rapid and sophisticated care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Silver Cross is one of the few hospitals in the area offering advanced technologies to extend the treatment window for stroke up to 8 hours. Neuro interventional radiologists and neurosurgeons are available to treat strokes in the hospital’s state-of-the-art biplane angiography suite.

“This advanced technology allows for an even greater level of safety for patients by cutting the normal procedure length and radiation exposure in half,” says Dr. Harish Shownkeen, Medical Director of the Neuro Interventional Program at Silver Cross. “And, patients don’t need to go anywhere else to recover.”

Silver Cross Hospital’s partnership with The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) ensures patients will receive an unmatched recovery experience close to home. RIC has been ranked the “Best Rehabilitation Hospital in America” by U.S. News and World Report every year since 1991. Patients benefit from RIC at Silver Cross’ inpatient rehabilitation unit as well as four outpatient facilities—at the hospital, Homer Glen, New Lenox (Route 30) and West Joliet. To learn more about the Silver Cross Stroke Program, visit www.silvercross.org/neuro.

About The Joint Commission

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including hospitals and health care organizations that provide ambulatory and office-based surgery, behavioral health, home care, laboratory and nursing home services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. The Joint Commission has two nonprofit affiliate organizations: The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare aims to solve health care’s most critical safety and quality problems and Joint Commission Resources (JCR) provides consulting services, educational services and publications. Joint Commission International, a division of JCR, accredits and certifies international health care organizations. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

About the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association are devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke- America’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

The familiar Heart-Check mark now helps consumers evaluate their choices in hospital care. Each mark given to a hospital is earned by meeting specific standards for the care of patients with heart disease and/or stroke. The Heart-Check mark can only be displayed by hospitals that have achieved and defined requirements set by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. For more information on the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Hospital Accreditation Program visit www.heart.org/myhospital.