White Plains Hospital Center Recognized for Implementing Quality Heart Disease and Stroke Care

White Plains Hospital Center is recognized for achievement in using evidence-based guidelines to provide care to patients through The American Heart Association/ American Stroke Associations Get With The GuidelinesSM quality improvement program.

WHITE PLAINS, NY (JULY 2009) — White Plains Hospital Center has been recognized for achievement in using evidence-based guidelines to provide the best possible care to patients through The American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM quality improvement program. White Plains Hospital Center and 569 other hospitals are featured in a July 28 advertisement in the “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of US News & World Report to commemorate their receipt of Get With The Guidelines Gold or Silver Performance Achievement Award. The awards are given for achievement in coronary artery disease, stroke and/or heart failure treatment. White Plains Hospital Center was the first in Westchester County and one of 18 hospitals in New York State to receive the program’s Gold Performance Achievement Award for stroke, recognizing two or more years at 85% or higher adherence in all performance measures. The Ruth & Jerome A. Siegel Regional Stroke Center at White Plains Hospital Center is also designated as a Regional Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health, a distinction that demonstrates the hospital's ability to diagnose and treat strokes using a highly specialized medical stroke team. White Plains Hospital Center was the first hospital in Westchester County to receive this prestigious designation. Get With The Guidelines is a hospital-based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for cardiac and stroke patients following the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations. The program addresses coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke. Currently more than 1,450 hospitals participate in the program. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s advertisement recognizes White Plains Hospital Center’s commitment and success in performance achievement. “The American Heart Association is pleased to recognize its top Get With The Guidelines participants,” said. Lee Schwamm, M.D., national chairman, of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chairman of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Healthcare providers who use Get With The Guidelines are armed with the latest evidence-based guidelines and immediate access to clinical decision support. The goal of this initiative is to ultimately improve the quality of life and help reduce deaths among heart and stroke patients.” “We are proud that the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have chosen the ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ issue of US News & World Report to recognize White Plains Hospital Center for our achievements in their Get With The Guidelines program,” said Jon B. Schandler, hospital President & CEO. “Being honored as giving excellent patient care is the best recognition a hospital can get. We are truly excited to see the lives we are positively impacting. The Get With The Guidelines program gives our professionals the tools and reports they need to effectively treat our stroke patients.” White Plains Hospital Center (WPHC) is a 292-bed voluntary, not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of offering high quality, acute health care and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County, New York and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Treatment Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center, The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Ruth & Jerome A. Siegel Regional Stroke Center Stroke Center and The Westchester Orthopedic Institute. The Hospital has the busiest Emergency Department in Westchester County, treating more than 45,000 patients a year. White Plains Hospital Center is a seven-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation. WPHC is a member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and the Stellaris Health Network, Inc. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org. About Get With The Guidelines Get With The GuidelinesSM (GWTG) is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations. For more information, visit americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines. CONTACT: Melissa Weisstuch White Plains Hospital Center (914) 681-2380 mweisstuch@wphospital.org Frank Pagani Thompson & Bender (914) 762-1900 frank@thompson-bender.com