Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Claiborne Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Rural Stroke Bronze quality achievement award for its effort to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities.

Tennessee is part of the “Stroke Belt” in the country’s Southeastern region and has one of the highest stroke-related death rates in the nation. It is the fifth leading cause of death, both in Tennessee and the United States.

According to the American Heart Association, people who live in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than urban counterparts, have a 40 percent higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30 percent increased risk for stroke mortality.

Strokes occur when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. This prevents the brain from receiving the blood and oxygen it needs, causing brain cells to die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Associations recognize the importance of health care services provided to those living in rural areas by rural hospitals, as they play a vital role in the initiation of timely, evidence-based care. The Get With The Guidelines – Rural Stroke award recognizes eligible organizations that use a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics.

“I’m proud of the exceptional care our stroke team provides every day at Claiborne Medical Center,” said Gordon Lintz, president and chief administrative officer. “Rural hospitals face distinct challenges, including transportation times and access to specialized resources. Through our collaboration with the Covenant Health stroke network, our team ensures that patients affected by stroke receive timely, high-quality care close to home.”

The Stroke Rural Bronze quality achievement award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward acute stroke care excellence demonstrated by composite score compliance 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 health care professionals in the Tazewell area face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, co-author on the American Heart Association’s presidential advisory on rural health. “Claiborne Medical Center has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”

Claiborne Medical Center is designated as an Acute Stroke-Ready Hospital by The Joint Commission and is a member of Covenant Health’s stroke network.

To learn more about Claiborne’s stroke services, visit its stroke care webpage.

 

About Claiborne Medical Center

Claiborne Medical Center is located in Tazewell, Tennessee, and is a member of Covenant Health, a community-owned health system providing comprehensive services in Tennessee. Claiborne Medical Center’s mission is to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health. For more information about Claiborne Medical Center, please visit CovenantHealth.com/Claiborne.

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.