In recognition of the rapid and quality care provided to stroke patients, University Hospital’s Missouri Stroke Program has received two national honors from the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

The program received the Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award, the highest distinction possible from Get With The Guidelines®. A hospital-based quality improvement program, Get With The Guidelines promotes adherence to the latest stroke-treatment protocols. To receive the award, a hospital must demonstrate compliance to national quality measures for 12 consecutive months. The Missouri Stroke Program received Gold Plus recognition in 2012 and 2013.

In addition to the Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award, the Missouri Stroke Program was named to the Target: Stroke Honor Roll. This national quality campaign is designed to improve outcomes for ischemic or clot-related stroke patients. Its goal is to help hospitals deliver clot-busting medication to patients within 60 minutes or less of patients’ arrival at the hospital. To receive the designation, a hospital must follow seven “Get With The Guidelines” quality measures. This is the third year University Hospital’s program has been named to the Target: Stroke Honor Roll.

“The majority of our patients who qualify for the clot-busting drug tPA receive the medication within 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital,” said Niranjan Singh, M.D., a neurologist and director of the Missouri Stroke Program. “Additionally, more than 80 percent of our stroke patients undergo a computer tomography (CT) scan to detect abnormalities within 25 minutes of arrival. Because time lost can mean brain lost, our stroke team is consistently on site within eight minutes of being activated.”

In addition to Singh, the Missouri Stroke Program team members include Ashish Nanda, M.D., co-director of the Missouri Stroke Program; Brandi French, M.D., director of the inpatient neurosciences program; Vikas Gupta, M.D., neurological interventionalist; and Tami Harris, R.N., Missouri Stroke Program coordinator.

“We strive to provide compassionate, timely and comprehensive care to patients who are experiencing a stroke,” said Pradeep Sahota, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurology at the MU School of Medicine and director of the sleep disorders program at MU Health Care. “Our neurologists, neurosurgeons, physical therapists, radiologists and emergency services personnel collaborate to diagnose and treat patients as quickly as possible.”

In addition to receiving the Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award and being named to the Target: Stroke Honor Roll, the Missouri Stroke Program is certified as an advanced primary stroke center by the Joint Commission.