Patchogue, N.Y. - The Stroke Center at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center has been honored with the Get With The Guidelines Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

This prestigious award recognizes Brookhaven's commitment to quality care for stroke patients. The Medical Center has achieved at least 12 consecutive months of 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines Stroke Performance Achievement indicators and achieved at least 75 percent or higher compliance with six of ten Get With The Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures during that same period of time, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.

The measures include aggressive use of medications, such as tPA, anthithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

"I am very proud of the tremendous efforts put forth by the stroke team and the entire staff at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center. Each of us - physicians, nurses, caregivers and staff, play an essential role in the care and comfort provided to the patients and their families at our stroke center. This award is affirmation of our progress and our dedication to future developments around stroke care" stated neurologist Dr. Edward Firouztale, who led in the establishment of the Stroke Center.

Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center is to be commended for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients," said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients."

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every three minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

About Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center
Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center (BMHMC) is a full-service 306 bed acute care, voluntary not-for-profit community hospital located in Patchogue, New York. BMHMC delivers accessible, high-quality health services in a focused caring and teaching environment while providing health advocacy for the community and people we serve. For more information about Brookhaven Hospital, please call (631) 654-7100 or visit our website at www.BrookhavenHospital.org.