FLH Shines with Multiple American Heart Association Recognitions

UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health is proud to announce that Geneva General Hospital and Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital in Penn Yan have received numerous achievement awards for demonstrating commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke, ultimately leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.

Get With The Guidelines is a proven in-hospital approach to improving patient outcomes across cardiovascular and stroke focus areas. Each Get With The Guidelines program promotes consistent adherence to the latest research-driven guidelines and measurement, while providing data and information to professionals for continual improvement in patient care.

Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke or heart attack, and heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death in the United States, respectively. Studies show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines.

This year, Geneva General Hospital and Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital received the following achievement awards:

• For commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability:

• • American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus, Target: Stroke Honor Roll, Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
    • Geneva General Hospital

People who live in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than urban counterparts and have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30% increased risk for stroke mortality — a gap that has grown over the past two decades.

• For efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities:
• American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Rural Recognition Silver
• Geneva General Hospital
• American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze
• Geneva General Hospital

• For commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to people experiencing a specific type of heart attack known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), known to be more severe and dangerous than other types of heart attacks:
• Get With The Guidelines®-Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Referring Gold
• Geneva General Hospital
• Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital

Recognition as a STEMI Referring Center is designed to showcase hospitals of every size on the front lines of care that do not have 24/7 cardiac catheterization lab availability but work in collaboration with emergency medical services to ensure patients receive guideline-directed STEMI and NSTEMI care.

• For commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to people experiencing a specific type of heart attack known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), known to be more severe and dangerous than other types of heart attacks.
• Get With The Guidelines®-Rural Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Silver
• Geneva General Hospital
• Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital

• For its commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to people experiencing non ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS).
• Get With The Guidelines®-Rural Coronary Artery Disease NSTE-ACS Silver
• Geneva General Hospital
• Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital

"We are proud that our teams at Geneva General Hospital and Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital are being recognized for the important work they do every day to improve the lives of people in the Finger Lakes affected by stroke and cardiovascular events, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival," said Matthew Talbott, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs for UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health.

"Our two emergency rooms have the fastest Emergency Department (ED) throughput times among all hospitals in the region, which demonstrates our commitment to providing swift and efficient emergency care to patients” stated Talbott.

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.