Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis has recently received certification as a primary stroke center from the Joint Commission.The Joint Commission guidelines for stroke center certification are based on national standards of clinical practice recommendations from the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association statements on stroke. These organizations use evidence-based data to write their guidelines for the care and treatment of patients. Hospitals working toward certification for stroke care need to derive all of their own protocols and care guidelines from the established recommendations.
To be considered, a hospital must complete all requirements necessary to apply and be successful in obtaining the designation. This process takes a multidisciplinary team of health care providers all working together to create the system of stroke care in a hospital. The Joint Commission sends a surveyor to review the process and conduct on-site surveys with nurses, health care providers and team members in the emergency department and on the stroke care unit floor.
“We are so proud that Baptist Memphis has been certified as a primary stroke care center,” said Julie Horn, neuroscience service line administrator for Baptist Memphis. “Our health care team has worked tirelessly for this achievement. We look forward to continuing to serve the community with quality health care, including preventive and educational stroke seminars.”