Reid Health – Connersville awarded for efforts to improve rural stroke care

Aug. 9, 2024 -- People who in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts, have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease, and face a 30% increased risk for stroke mortality -- a gap that has grown over the past two decades, according to the American Heart Association.

Reid Health is committed to changing that.

For efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural healthcare outcome disparities, Reid Health - Connersville has received the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines^® - Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze award.

The American Heart Association, the world's leading non-profit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, recognizes the importance of healthcare services provided to people living in rural areas by rural hospitals that play a vital role in initiation of timely evidence-based care.

For that reason, all rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines - Stroke are eligible to receive award recognition based on a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics.

"When a stroke occurs, time is brain. The typical stroke patient loses roughly 2 million neurons each minute a stroke is left untreated," said Jordan Raynor, MD, Reid neurologist and Stroke Medical Director. "This award reflects the multidisciplinary efforts made to ensure people in Fayette County have access to timely, state-of-the-art stroke treatment."

"Rural communities deserve high-quality stroke care, and I'm proud of our team for their commitment to those we serve," said Misti Foust-Cofield, Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer for Reid Health. "We're thrilled their hard work is being recognized on a national level."

"When a stroke occurs, time is brain. The typical stroke patient loses roughly 2 million neurons each minute a stroke is left untreated. This award reflects the multidisciplinary efforts made to ensure people in Fayette County have access to timely, state-of-the-art stroke treatment." -- Jordan Raynor, MD, Reid neurologist and Stroke Medical Director

The award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward acute stroke care excellence. It's measured by how well they adhere to guideline-directed care for 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 healthcare professionals in Fayette County face unique challenges and opportunities," said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, co-author on "Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association," and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

"Reid Health has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live."

About Get With The Guidelines^®

Get With The Guidelines^® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 14 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.