Primary Stroke Center Designation

Online, January 11, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Corpus Christi Medical Center, a 583-bed acute care Healthcare System in South Texas, has been named a Certified Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission. The Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers recognizes Corpus Christi Medical Center - Bay Area, The Heart Hospital and Doctors Regional Hospitals for providing better, faster care to improve stroke patient outcomes.

"We are honored to be recognized by The Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center," said Edward Lamb, Chief Executive Officer at Corpus Christi Medical Center. "It is our mission to provide the highest quality of care to the community and this certification validates our standards of care related to assessment, diagnosis and treatment of a stroke."

This designation of Primary Stroke Center validates compliance with nationally developed standards for stroke care. The Joint Commission's Primary Stroke Center Certification is based on the recommendations for primary stroke centers published by the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association's statements and guidelines for stroke care.

Primary Stroke Centers:
• Use a standardized method of delivering care based on the Brain Attack Coalition recommendations for establishment of primary stroke centers.
• Support a patient's self-management activities.
• Tailor treatment and intervention to individual needs.
• Promote the flow of patient information across settings and providers, while protecting patient rights, security and privacy.
• Analyze and use standardized performance measure data to continually improve treatment plans.
• Demonstrate their application of and compliance with the clinical practice guidelines published by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association or equivalent evidence-based guidelines.

"We have a dedicated stroke alert team of front line nurses and physicians that are educated and trained in rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke victims," said Patricia Squires, Stroke Coordinator at Corpus Christi Medical Center. "It is our goal at Corpus Christi Medical Center to help decrease the profound effects of disability suffered by stroke patients. The key to better patient outcomes is the rapid recognition of a pending stroke, rapid transport to a Primary Stroke Center and rapid diagnosis and treatment."

According to The American Stroke Association, each year about 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke, which is the nation's third leading cause of death. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and someone dies of a stroke every 3.1 minutes. Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States, with about 4.7 million stroke survivors alive today.