Singing River Health System Receives Get With The Guidelines Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Singing River Health System has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

About the Award

The award recognizes each hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Singing River Health System earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period.

These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.

Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“Singing River Health System is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Heather Sudduth, Neurological Program Coordinator. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

Singing River Health System additionally received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award at both hospitals. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

“We are pleased to recognize Singing River Health System for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

About Singing River Health System

Singing River Health System is the community based, not-for profit healthcare provider for Jackson County and surrounding areas on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As one of the county’s largest employers, the system offers award winning, comprehensive care for every age and stage. Singing River Health System is committed to the highest quality standards, and is a Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Distinction Center of Excellence in Knee & Hip Replacement and Cardiac Care.


We provide critical health services, numerous community outreach programs and charitable services and educational programs. We strengthen the local economy by recruiting over 300 of the very best physicians and other professionals to our community while providing good jobs, wages and benefits to more than 2,400 employees and their families. Through this dedication, we help improve the health of the community while making it a better place to live and work. We are honored to be the caregiver of choice.

Visit https://singingriverhe.wpengine.com/ or our Facebook to learn more.

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 tools and resources to increase adherence to 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 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.