Fall River, Mass. – Saint Anne’s Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s “Get With The Guidelines^®-Stroke” Gold Quality Achievement Award.

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

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, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

To receive the Gold Quality Achievement Award, hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods. Quality measures focus on appropriate use of guideline-based care for stroke patients, including aggressive use of medications such as clot-busting and anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and cholesterol-reducing drugs, preventive action for deep vein thrombosis, and smoking cessation counseling.

“The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Saint Anne’s for its commitment to stroke care,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program.”

Get With The Guidelines®-S puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping hospital care teams ensure the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery time, Get With The Guidelines®-S has impacted more than 3 million patients since 2003.

About Saint Anne’s Hospital

Founded by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation in 1906, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a full-service, acute care Catholic hospital with 185 beds and satellite locations in Attleboro, Swansea, Dartmouth, New Bedford, and Stoughton, Massachusetts. The hospital provides nationally recognized patient- and family-centered inpatient and outpatient clinical services to patients from surrounding Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities.

In addition to comprehensive diagnostic, medical, surgical, and emergency services, key services include the Joint Commission-certified Center for Orthopedic Excellence, with locations in Fall River, Dartmouth and Attleboro; Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center in Fall River and Dartmouth; the Center for Pain Management in Swansea and Dartmouth; and geriatric psychiatry services at locations in Fall River and Stoughton.