NHHS receives award for stroke care

NEWPORT — A Newport hospital has been recognized for its efforts to improve the health of the community's residents.

People who live in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts and have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30% increased risk for stroke mortality — a gap that has grown over the past two decades, according to American Heart Association data. Newport Hospital and Health Services is committed to changing that, hospital officials said.

In recognition of its efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities, Newport Hospital and Health Services has received the AHA "Get With The Guidelines" Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze award. This marks the second consecutive year that the Newport hospital has received the award.

Rural hospitals that take part in the program are eligible for recognition based on a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics, NHHS officials said.

“We are proud that our team at Newport Hospital and Health Services is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Pend Oreille County and West Bonner County who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” Merry-Ann Keane, chief executive officer, said.

As a hospital in a rural community, Keane said the Newport hospital deals with characteristics, such as extended interfacility transportation times, and limited staffing resources. 

"We've made it a goal to make sure those hurdles do not affect the standard of care our stroke patients receive," she said. “Rural communities deserve high-quality stroke care. I'm proud of our team for their commitment to stroke care excellence and this achievement.”

The award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward acute stroke care excellence demonstrated by composite score compliance to guideline-directed care for intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely hospital inter-facility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.

“Patients and health care professionals in the Pend Oreille River Valley face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, co-author on “Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association” and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “Newport Hospital and Health Services has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”

Owned and operated by Pend Oreille County Public Hospital District, Newport Hospital and Health Services was established in 1921. Located in Newport, the district covers health needs for primary care, obstetrics, emergency services, anesthesia, wound care, and general, orthopedic, and gynecological surgery.

Information: NHHS, newporthospitalandhealth.org