Vista Retains Accreditation as Primary Stroke Center
Vista Health System today announced that Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan has successfully retained its Gold Seal of Approval™ as a Primary Stroke Center following a thorough survey by The Joint Commission.
The survey was completed in December 2011 with the confirmation letter recently received by Vista. This re-accreditation comes two years after Vista Medical Center East was named as the first hospital in Northern Lake County, Illinois, to earn this distinction from The Joint Commission.
“On behalf of our physicians, nurses and medical staff, we're very proud that our Stroke program continues to earn this distinction from The Joint Commission,” said Barbara J. Martin, President and CEO of Vista Health System. “Our medical professionals and staff are dedicated to fighting this devastating disease while providing outstanding care to our patients in the community.”
Stroke is the nation's third leading cause of death with more than 700,000 people experiencing a new or recurrent stroke each year. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, and claims a life every 3.1 minutes. 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/guidelines for stroke care.
“We are continuously working to improve and expand our Stroke program,” said Julie Gruber, RN, Vista's Neuroscience Coordinator. “We look at every step of the process, including the care received in our Emergency Rooms and throughout the inpatient stay; our surgical and post-operative procedures; and our inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation. The result of this is that accredited programs like ours experience lower mortality rates, plus the short-term and long-term outcomes for patients are statistically proven to be better.”
Patient education and awareness are important aspects of Vista's Stroke program. Vista is a local sponsor of a statewide organization called SSEEO (Stroke Survivors Empowering Each Other), and Vista partners with SSEEO member Phyllis Weisz to hold monthly meetings for stroke survivors. Vista also has recently launched a support group for people with Parkinson's Disease. Gruber pointed out that access to a neurologist is now easier at Vista since the addition of a full-time, employed neurologist, Antao Du, M.D., who sees patients at multiple Vista locations.
This designation by The Joint Commission adds to the growing list of Centers of Excellence at Vista Health System. Within the past six months, Vista has retained its certification for the Gold Seal of Approval for Hip & Knee Surgery and retained its status as an accredited Cancer Care Center. Vista also has received accreditation for the first time as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence and for its Congestive Heart Failure program. In addition, Vista Medical Center West is the northern suburbs' only CARF-accredited Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, while Vista Medical Center East is a Level II Trauma Center.
An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. It evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.