Blue Ridge Regional Hospital has been recognized for its significant efforts in optimizing stroke care and addressing healthcare outcome disparities in rural areas. The hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Recognition Silver award. This award highlights the commitment of Blue Ridge Regional Hospital to improving health outcomes for individuals in rural communities, who on average, live three years fewer than their urban counterparts and face a 40 percent higher likelihood of developing heart disease and a 30 percent increased risk for stroke mortality.
“We are proud that our team at Blue Ridge Regional Hospital is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Spruce Pine and the surrounding North Carolina mountain communities who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Dr. Tonia W. Hale, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Nursing Officer for Blue Ridge Regional Hospital. Dr. Hale acknowledged the unique challenges faced by rural hospitals, such as occasional interfacility transportation delays, and emphasized the hospital’s goal to ensure these hurdles do not compromise the standard of care for stroke patients.
The American Heart Association, a leading organization dedicated to heart and brain health, emphasizes the crucial role of rural hospitals in providing timely, evidence-based care to residents of rural areas. Rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines – Stroke are eligible for this recognition, which is based on a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics.
The award acknowledges hospitals for their excellence in acute stroke care, demonstrated by their compliance with guideline-directed care in several key areas. These include intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely hospital inter-facility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging, and stroke expert consultation.
“Patients and health care professionals in Spruce Pine and the surrounding North Carolina mountain communities face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” stated Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, co-author on the American Heart Association’s presidential advisory on rural health. “Blue Ridge Regional Hospital has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live”.
