May is celebrated as Stroke Awareness Month! Catawba Valley Medical Center
(CVMC) has been named one of America’s Best Hospitals for Stroke
Care by the
Women’s Choice Award®, America’s trusted referral source for the best in healthcare.
The award signifies that CVMC is in the top seven percent of 4,729 U.S.
hospitals offering stroke care services.
According to the
American Stroke Association, one in five women in the United States will have a stroke in her lifetime.
Nearly 60% of stroke deaths, a “brain attack,” are in women,
and studies show that women are more likely to be misdiagnosed for stroke
even with the same symptoms present as men.
“Timely diagnosis and effective care are critical to preventing disability
and improving chances of recovery from stroke. The time to identify your
community’s leading hospital for stroke care is right now, not in
the middle of a medical emergency when every minute is precious,”
said Delia Passi, founder and CEO of the Women’s Choice Award. “We
congratulate these hospitals and their dedication to education, prevention,
and early intervention to reduce the devastating effects of stroke.”
The Best Hospitals for Stroke Care are hospitals that hold a Stroke Center
Certification, recognizing centers that meet high standards for stroke
care as determined by the Joint Commission (JC) and/or Det Norske Veritas
(DNV). Credit is given for certifications on a scale based on the degree
of care available to the stroke patient.
It is the only award recognizing excellence in stroke care based on robust
criteria that consider patient satisfaction and clinical excellence. The
methodology used to select CVMC as one of the Best Hospitals for Stroke
Care is unique in that it evaluates Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare
Providers and Systems
(HCAHPS) patient survey results along with primary research about women’s healthcare preferences.
Hospitals that meet the stroke center certification requirement, must then
meet or exceed the following performance measures from the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): Hospitals must also score in the
top 80% of all hospitals in the percent of patients receiving Head CT
scan results within 45 minutes, and cannot have received a rating of Worse
than the National Rate for the Deaths from Serious Treatable Complications measure.
“Getting top care within the first three hours of a stroke is critical
to preventing disability and improving chances of recovery” says
Passi. “Our award educates women about where they—and their
loved ones—have the best chance to return to a full life following
a stroke.”
CVMC is one of 360 award recipients representing the hospitals that have
met the highest standards for stroke care in the U.S. by the Women’s
Choice Award.
To learn more about CVMC's award-winning Stroke care, visit
CatawbaValleyHealth.org/Stroke