Banner Baywood Medical Center certified as a Primary Stroke Center

MESA, Ariz. - Banner Baywood Medical Center is pleased to announce it has earned the Gold Seal of Approval(tm) from The Joint Commission for Primary Stroke Centers. The East Valley Stroke Center at Banner Baywood earned this distinction after the Joint Commission conducted an on-site review in July.

The designation makes Banner Baywood Medical Center the first nationally certified stroke center in the East Valley and just the fourth in the state of Arizona.

“This is huge for us and for our community,” said Banner Baywood Medical Center CEO Don Evans. “It is the first of a handful of niches we plan to develop over the next few years that will enable us to best serve stroke patients in our community.”

The Joint Commission’s Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care.  Achievement of certification signifies that the services a hospital provides have the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes.  It is the best signal to the community that the quality care a hospital provides is effectively managed to meet the unique and specialized needs of stroke patients.

“Banner Baywood Medical Center demonstrated that its stroke care program follows national standards and guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients,” said Jean E. Range, M.S., R.N., C.P.H.Q., executive director, Disease-Specific Care Certification, Joint Commission.

Recently, Banner Baywood Medical Center instituted a new Stroke Alert program designed to empower employees and protect patients. Using a “FAST” method of identifying possible stroke victims, all hospital staff ranging from housekeeping and food service workers to lab techs and nurses now have the resources and responsibility to activate the hospital’s Stroke Alert response team. FAST is an acronym used to pinpoint four key signs of stroke:

• Facial droop
• Arm drift
• Speech difficulty
• Time

When stroke is suspected, Baywood employees and/or Emergency Medical Service teams now can activate a Stroke Alert by:

• Notifying the hospital operator.
• The operator will then alert the stroke team on call, and in many cases will contact the house supervisor on duty.
• The Banner Baywood stroke team works together and is composed of:
  • a National Institutes of Health-certified registered nurse
  • a neurologist
  • a lab and radiology techs skilled in caring for stroke patients
  • emergency department doctors and nurses
  • clinical staff from other departments who may be involved in the patient’s care.
• Together, these individuals evaluate patients, ensure initial testing is completed and determine next steps for their medical care. Initiation of the FAST scale as a hospital-wide assessment standard and implementation of a Stroke Alert protocol highlight Banner Baywood’s commitment to medical excellence for stroke patients.

Each year about 700,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke, which is the nation’s third leading cause of death. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds and someone dies of a stroke every 3.1 minutes. Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States, with about 4.7 million stroke survivors alive today.

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 statements/guidelines for stroke care. The Joint Commission launched the program-the nation’s first-in 2003.

ABOUT THE JOINT COMMISSION
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more then 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 8,000 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,800 other health care organizations that provide long term care, assisted living, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services. The Joint Commission also accredits health plans, integrated delivery networks, and other managed care entities. In addition, the Joint Commission provides certification of disease-specific care programs, primary stroke centers, and health care staffing services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about the Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

ABOUT BBMC
Banner Baywood Medical Center is a 340-bed facility known for its world-class programs in stroke care, oncology, women’s health, orthopedics and surgical technologies. The facility opened in 1984 and serves the growing East Valley communities of Mesa, Gilbert, Apache Junction, Queen Creek, Fountain Hills and areas of northeastern Pinal County. In 2009, the medical center will expand with a new, $38.5 million emergency department with 54 patient rooms. Banner Baywood Medical Center employs more than 1,500 health care professionals and support staff, and has approximately 500 volunteers. The facility boasts a medical staff of more than 800 physicians, including primary care and specialty physicians. Banner Baywood is part of Banner Health, Arizona’s largest health care provider and second largest private employer. For more information, visit Banner Baywood Medical Center.