Mayo Clinic Hospital designated a certified primary stroke center

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

PHOENIX - Mayo Clinic Hospital is one of the first hospitals in Arizona to be designated a Certified Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). JCAHO verification of this achievement by Mayo Clinic was confirmed on Monday, May 22, 2006.

The distinction was earned following a rigorous, on-site review of Mayo procedures, policies, charts, electronic records, facilities, staff and patients in April. The day-long survey revealed no deficiencies. The certification is in recognition of Mayo's efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care and confirms that Mayo Clinic Hospital has the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving stroke outcomes.

"We're proud to earn this distinction because it reinforces our commitment to patients and to exacting standards and guidelines that result in positive outcomes," said Bart M. Demaerschalk, M.D., stroke neurologist and medical director, Mayo Clinic Cerebrovascular Diseases Center.

In February, Mayo Clinic Hospital was the only hospital in Arizona to receive a Stroke Performance Award from the American Stroke Association for achieving a greater than 85 percent compliance rate of guidelines for treatment of patients who had an acute stroke.

Mayo's stroke team includes three stroke-fellowship trained physicians, one of whom is always available to treat patients who present at Mayo Clinic Hospital's Emergency Department with stroke symptoms.

Stroke is the nation's third leading cause of death and is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in adults.

The Joint Commission's Primary Stroke Center Certification is based on the recommendations for primary stroke centers published by the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association's guidelines for stroke care. The JCAHO program was launched in 2003.

Mayo Clinic is a private group practice of medicine dedicated to providing diagnosis and treatment of patient illnesses through a systematic focus on individual patient needs. As a leading academic medical center in the Southwest, Mayo Clinic focuses on providing specialty and surgical care in more than 65 disciplines at its outpatient facility in north Scottsdale and at Mayo Clinic Hospital. The 208-licensed bed hospital is located at 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard (north of Bell Road) in northeast Phoenix, and provides inpatient care to support the medical and surgical specialties of the clinic, which is located at 134th Street and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale.

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