HobNobMurfreesboro Announces Middle Tennessee Medical Center Receives Top Award for Stroke Care

Murfreesboro, TN, July 24, 2009 --(PR.com)-- HobNobMurfreesboro has recently partnered up with the Middle Tennessee Medical Center which is set to launch in October of 2010. This partnership is designed to help promote the awareness of the medical community and its advances in Murfreesboro, TN.

Middle Tennessee Medical Center has been recognized for achievement in using evidence-based guidelines to provide the best possible care to patients through The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) program.

MTMC and 569 other hospitals are featured in a July 28 advertisement in the “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of US News & World Report to commemorate their receipt of GWTG: Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award. The awards are given for achievement in coronary artery disease, stroke and/or heart failure treatment.

“For the third consecutive year, MTMC’s stroke program has been recognized in US News & World Report, this year earning the distinction of the Gold Performance Achievement Award,” said Gordon B. Ferguson, MTMC president and CEO. “This award is a significant recognition of the high-level care available at MTMC and the commitment of our Stroke Program Coordinator Sylvia McLaughlin BSN, CNRN and MTMC neurologist John Witt, MD.”

Hospitals are recognized in each category in which they achieve at least 85 percent compliance to GWTG measures. Hospitals marking 85 percent compliance for 24 consecutive months receive the Gold Performance Achievement Award.

GWTG is a hospital-based quality-improvement program designed to ensure that hospitals consistently care for cardiac and stroke patients following the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations. The program addresses coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke. Currently more than 1,450 hospitals participate in the program.

“The American Heart Association is pleased to recognize its top GWTG participants,” said. Lee Schwamm, MD, national chairman of the GWTG steering committee, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chairman of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Healthcare providers who use GWTG are armed with the latest evidence-based guidelines and immediate access to clinical decision support, using a set of tools that have been shown to improve delivery of evidence-based care. The goal of this initiative is to improve the quality of life and help reduce deaths and disability among patients with heart disease and stroke.”

MTMC is Stroke Center Certified by The Joint Commission. In 2008, MTMC established the Stroke Prevention and Recovery Center (SPARC) focused on treating and preventing stroke and related cerebrovascular disorders. For more information on the MTMC stroke program visit www.sths.com/neurosciences.

Saint Thomas Health Services is a faith-based ministry with more than 6,500 associates serving Middle Tennessee. Saint Thomas Health Services’ regional health system consists of four hospitals – Baptist and Saint Thomas in Nashville, Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro and Hickman Community Hospital in Centerville – and a comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures in diagnostics, cardiac services and ambulatory surgery as well as medical practices, the Center for Spinal Surgery, clinics and rehabilitation facilities. STHS is a member of Ascension Health, a Catholic organization that is the largest not-for-profit health system in the United States. For more information, visit www.sths.com.

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