Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital Earns Advanced Certification For Comprehensive Stroke Centers

RICHMOND, Va. (Aug, 14, 2018) – Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital has been recognized for clinical excellence by earning Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center status from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. As the highest level of stroke care certification, Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center status places St. Mary’s Hospital among an elite group of hospitals focused on complex stroke care, and recognizes the hospital as an industry leader in setting the national agenda for highly-specialized stroke care.
 
Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital is the only non-academic facility to earn this honor in Virginia, as well as in a four-state region. There are approximately 100 Joint Commission Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Centers nationwide out of 5,000 hospitals.

Eligibility standards include all components of a Primary Stroke Center plus: availability of advanced imaging techniques; including MRI/MRA, CTA, DSA and TCD; availability of personnel trained in vascular neurology, neurosurgery and endovascular procedures; 24/7 availability of personnel, imaging, operating room and endovascular facilities; ICU/neuroscience ICU facilities and capabilities; experience and expertise treating patients with large ischemic strokes, intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

"By achieving this advanced certification, Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital has thoroughly demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of its patients with a complex stroke condition,” says Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president, The Joint Commission. “Certification is a voluntary process and The Joint Commission commends St. Mary’s for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate the standard of its care for the community it serves.”

According to the American Heart Association, every 40 seconds someone has a stroke in the United States, with over 600,000 new and approximately 185,000 recurring strokes every year. Stroke is the second leading global cause of death in adults and a leading cause of adult disability. 

Recently, Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital also received the 2018 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence, and brings national recognition to St. Mary’s for improving patient care and outcomes.

The Bon Secours neuroscience program provides comprehensive specialty care encompassing neurology, neurosurgery and neuro-interventional services and serves patients in seven acute care facilities in Richmond, Hampton Roads and at a critical access hospital in the Northern Neck. Patients at each location benefit from the expertise of all Bon Secours’ physicians, due to an advanced teleneurology system—the largest stroke teleneurology network in Virginia—that enables a board-certified neurologist to link to other doctors via a high-definition video to quickly evaluate patients with neurologic emergencies.

For more information about the Bon Secours neuroscience program, visit http://neuro.richmond.bonsecours.com/.