VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award after a recent survey. VCU Health CMH has been designated as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission, a national accrediting organization and by the American Heart Association since 2016.

This award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

“We’re proud to achieve these distinctions because it sends a key message to people throughout the region; all stroke care is not equal,” stated Vickey Morgan, Stroke Program Coordinator at VCU Health CMH. “The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association only recognize hospitals that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke patients.”

“These prestigious designations signal to South Hill and surrounding communities that we have the physicians, nurses and clinical protocols in place to respond quickly and intervene when stroke occurs,” said David Brown, M.D., Director of Emergency Services at VCU Health CMH. “We applaud the excellent teamwork and coordination required within the hospital to achieve such a designation.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.