May 24, 2017
West Columbia, S.C. –Lexington Medical Center has received a “Gold Plus” Quality Achievement Award for stroke care from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke program. The hospital also received its Target: Stroke Honor Roll recognition.
The “Gold Plus” award is the highest honor bestowed to hospitals for stroke care and recognizes commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients. The honor goes to hospitals with excellent adherence to stroke quality indicators and measures, including use of proven medications, therapy, cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability, and improving the lives of stroke patients.
To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator. If given in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.
“Caring for patients experiencing a stroke is an interdisciplinary collaboration. Every member of the team strives to provide evidence-based stroke care with the goal of reducing the disabling effects a stroke can have on a person and his or her family. I am proud of our team and the level of stroke care they provide,” said Erin Stillinger, RN, BSN, stroke outcomes coordinator at Lexington Medical Center.
Lexington Medical Center is certified by Det Norske Veritas Healthcare, Inc. as a Primary Stroke Center. This certification program recognizes organizations that follow the best practices for stroke care. Achieving Primary Stroke Center certification demonstrates Lexington Medical Center’s dedication to promoting better outcomes for patients.
Lexington Medical Center is a 607-bed teaching hospital in West Columbia, South Carolina. It anchors a health care network that includes five community medical centers and employs a staff of more than 8,000 health care professionals. The hospital is ranked best hospital in the Columbia Metro and #2 hospital in South Carolina by U.S. News & World Report and was named one of the “Best Places to Work in South Carolina” by SC Biz News, in partnership with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and Best Companies Group. Lexington Medical Cancer Center is an accredited Cancer Center of Excellence and has a clinical research and education affiliation with MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. The network includes a cardiovascular program recognized by the American College of Cardiology as South Carolina's first HeartCARE Center. The network also has an occupational health center, the largest skilled nursing facility in the Carolinas, an Alzheimer's care center and more than 70 physician practices. Lexington Medical Center operates one of the busiest Emergency departments in South Carolina, treating nearly 100,000 patients each year. The hospital delivers more than 4,000 babies each year and performs more than 25,000 surgeries. Its postgraduate medical education programs include family medicine and transitional year residencies.
