Sherman Recognized for Implementing Quality Cardiac and Stroke Care

7-16-2007

July 16, 2007

ELGIN, Ill. - Sherman Hospital is one of 277 hospitals in the United States being recognized in the July 23 issue of US News & World Report by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With the Guidelines SM (GWTG) program in an ad for its performance achievement in cardiac and stroke patient care.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's GWTG program is a quality-improvement program that helps hospitals insure that patients consistently receive cardiac and stroke care in accordance with the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations.

GWTG has three modules to help hospitals use evidence-based guidelines to treat patients with coronary artery disease, stroke and/or heart failure. Hospitals that continually meet or exceed the nationally accepted standards, or guidelines, improve their quality patient care by turning guidelines into lifelines.

Upon meeting criteria specific to each module, hospitals are recognized for performance achievement if at least 85 percent of their cardiac or stroke patients (without contraindications) are treated and discharged according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's guidelines and recommendations. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's ad recognizes Sherman Hospital's commitment and success in performance achievement.

"GWTG is about improving quality of care and saving lives, so the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association wanted to recognize Sherman Hospital's contribution to quality cardiovascular care in a publication such as US News & World Report, which focuses its July issue on the top 100 hospitals. Sherman has implemented and maintained the appropriate
standards of performance in cardiac and stroke care for patients," said Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., American Heart Association volunteer chairman for the national GWTG Steering Committee."We are proud of Sherman Hospital's efforts for implementing these lifesaving treatments."

"Sherman is dedicated to making our patient care for heart and stroke patients among the best in the country, and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's GWTG program is helping us accomplish that by making it easier for our professionals to improve the quality of care and long-term outcomes of our cardiac patients," said Dr. Ian Jones, Vice President of Clinical Performance at Sherman Hospital.

About Sherman Hospital:
Sherman Hospital has provided residents of the northwest suburbs with caring, compassionate and quality healthcare for more than a century. Hospital services include a regional heart center, emergency services, diabetes center, cancer care services, orthopedic care and the birthing center with a neonatal intensive care nursery. In 2006, Sherman broke ground on a replacement hospital at Randall and Big Timber Roads in Elgin, scheduled for completion in 2009. Plans are underway to make the current Sherman Hospital, located at 934 Center Street in Elgin, an immediate care facility. For more information call (800) 397-9000 or visit www.shermanhealth.com and www.thefutureofSherman.com.

About GWTG:
Get With The GuidelinesSM (GWTG) is the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association's hospital-based program designed to ensure that patients are consistently treated and discharged according to evidence-based guidelines for coronary artery disease, heart failure, and stroke. This quality improvement program empowers healthcare teams to save lives and reduce healthcare costs through helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations for treating coronary artery disease, heart failure, and stroke. Experience has shown that 80,000 lives could be saved annually if the coronary artery disease (GWTG-CAD) module alone of Get With The GuidelinesSM were implemented nationwide. GWTG was the first hospital-based program to receive the prestigious Innovation in Prevention Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2004. Currently almost 2,000 hospitals use one or more GWTG modules. GWTG-CAD is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from the Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceutical Partnership and GWTG- Heart Failure is supported by an unrestricted grant from Glaxo Smith Kline, Inc.

For more information, visit americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines.