Holy Cross Health Receives 2022 National Recognition for Stroke and Diabetes Programs

The stroke and diabetes programs at Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale have received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With the Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Awards: Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus Gold, Advanced Therapy, and the Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll™ Award.

“These recognitions are a credit to our entire team,” said Holy Cross Health President and CEO Mark Doyle. “We are committed to successfully implementing the Get With the Guidelines program, applying the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes in the communities we serve.”

Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.

“The Stroke Quality Achievement Award recognizes our 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,” Doyle said. “That extends to educating our patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.”

Because with a stroke time is of the essence, Holy Cross Health qualified for the Target Stoke: Honor Roll Elite Plus Award by meeting specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster alteplase.

Holy Cross also received the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll Award, which ensures patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.

“We are incredibly pleased to recognize Holy Cross Health,” said Steven Messe, M.D., chairperson of the Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. “Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates – a win for health care systems, families and communities.”

About Holy Cross Health 
A member of Trinity Health, Fort Lauderdale-based Holy Cross Hospital, dba Holy Cross Health, is a full-service, non-profit, Catholic, teaching hospital operating in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy. Holy Cross has been named one of the top 10 hospitals in the Miami metro area in U.S. News and World Report's 2021-2022 Best Hospital rankings. Through strategic collaborations and a commitment to being a person-centered, transforming, healing presence, the 557-bed hospital offers progressive inpatient, outpatient and community outreach services and clinical research trials to serve as our community’s trusted health partner for life. Holy Cross Health also encompasses Holy Cross HealthPlex outpatient facility, urgent care centers and more than 50 Holy Cross Medical Group physician practices. To learn more about Holy Cross Health, visit holy-cross.com. Connect @holycrossfl.

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 12 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.