Nebraska Medical Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers.
About the certification
Established in 2012, Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers is awarded for a two-year period to Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals. The certification was derived from the Brain Attack Coalition‘s “Recommendations for Comprehensive Stroke Centers” (Stroke, 2005), “Metrics for Measuring Quality of Care in Comprehensive Stroke Centers” (Stroke, 2011) and recommendations from a multidisciplinary advisory panel of experts in complex stroke care.
The Gold Seal of Approval® and the Heart-Check mark represent symbols of quality from their respective organizations. Nebraska Medical Center is now the only facility in the state with this designation. The others in the region are in Iowa City, Iowa, Kansas City, Kansas, and Denver.
With advanced certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, Nebraska Medical Center has demonstrated the infrastructure and expertise to care for and manage the most complex of stroke patients. Many hospitals can treat some of the complexities, but no one else in the state can provide all of the services and be available 24/7/365.
In addition, recent legislation (LB722) was passed in Nebraska that focused on improving stroke care by creating a state stroke system. This system includes a state hospital stroke designation and a state stroke protocol to guide EMS. The intent is for emergency medical providers to understand where to take patients when they have a stroke. The new state stroke protocol includes both a stroke screening tool and a stroke severity measure tool, which helps direct EMS to the most appropriate facility.
With this certification, Nebraska Medical Center joins an elite group of health care organizations focused on highly specialized stroke care. To be eligible, hospitals must demonstrate compliance with stroke-related standards as a Primary Stroke Center and meet additional requirements, including those related to advanced imaging capabilities, 24/7 availability of specialized treatments, and providing staff with the unique education and competencies to care for complex stroke patients.
Nebraska Medicine underwent a rigorous onsite review with Joint Commission experts evaluating compliance with stroke-related standards and requirements.
“Nebraska Medicine is pleased to receive advanced certification from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association,” said Dan DeBehnke, M.D., M.B.A., CEO of Nebraska Medicine. “This accomplishment wouldn’t have happened without the dedication of all of our colleagues in the stroke program here. It’s a reflection of what we’re trying to do for all of our patients, and that is to provide the highest level of care possible.”
Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.