KNI Stroke Center Receives High Designation from American Heart Association

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 10, 2015) - UK HealthCare's Kentucky Neuroscience Institute (KNI) has received the "Get With The Guidelines - "Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award" by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for maintaining nationally recognized standards for the treatment of stroke patients.
 

KNI also received the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with the clot-buster tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. Over 12 months, at least 75 percent of the hospital’s ischemic stroke patients received tPA within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital (known as door-to-needle time). Stroke patients who receive tPA within three hours of the onset of symptoms may recover more quickly and are less likely to suffer severe disability.

This year marks the sixth year that KNI has received Gold Plus designation. KNI has been named to the Target: Stroke Honor Roll the past three years and repeats for the 'elite' level that was introduced last year.

Kentucky patients aren't the only ones benefiting from this achievement.

"By participating in the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program, we are able to share our expertise with other member hospitals around the country, including access to the most up-to-date research, clinical tools and resources, and patient education resources," said Dr. Jessica Lee, medical director of the KNI Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Dr. Larry Goldstein, chair of the UK Department of Neurology and co-director of KNI, said that “Comprehensive Stroke Center status reflects our capability to provide the most advanced care for patients with stroke. These awards further underscore the hard work of our multidisciplinary team of neurologists, neurosurgeons, emergency physicians, nurses, therapists and others to optimize care delivery for stroke patients right here in Lexington.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. In Kentucky, cardiovascular disease (which includes stroke) is the leading cause of death.  On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 785,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

The KNI Stroke Center is also also certified as a “Comprehensive Stroke Center” by The Joint Commission – its highest honor.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

Media Contact:  Laura Dawahare, Laura.Dawahare@uky.edu, (859) 257-5307