July 24, 2007

CONTACT:
Communications Department
(320) 251-2700, ext. 74980

St. Cloud Hospital joins national program to improve stroke care

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud Hospital is participating in the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines - Stroke initiative. The goal of the program is to improve the overall quality of care for stroke patients by improving acute stroke treatment and preventing future strokes and cardiovascular events. The stroke program at St. Cloud Hospital has met the standards for stroke care for the second consecutive year.

Get With The Guidelines - Stroke was developed to help hospitals employ treatment guidelines, including those developed by the American Stroke Association, American Heart Association and Brain Attack Coalition. These guidelines address acute stroke management, primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, secondary prevention of strokes and the establishment of primary stroke centers.

As a Get With The Guidelines - Stroke participating hospital, St. Cloud Hospital has been encouraged to develop a comprehensive system for providing rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke when patients are admitted to the emergency department. This includes being equipped 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide brain imaging scans, making neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate. St. Cloud Hospital also is increasing its efforts to prevent secondary strokes through education efforts for patients, community and staff.

The time is right for St. Cloud Hospital to implement Get With The Guidelines - Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population. Each year, about 700,000 people suffer a stroke -- 500, 000 are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent. Of stroke survivors, 22 percent of men and 25 percent of women die within a year, and for those aged 65 and older, the percentage is even higher.

# # #