Oak Lawn, IL – Advocate Christ Medical Center has earned Comprehensive Stroke Center certification from DNV (Det Norske Veritas) Healthcare, Inc., a hospital accreditation organization with some of the most rigorous standards in health care.
For the past 10 years, Christ Medical Center has been designated as a Primary Stroke Center, previously the pinnacle certification. A Comprehensive Stroke Center certification is now the highest level awarded.
By achieving this advanced certification, Christ Medical Center meets DNV’s standards to treat the most complex stroke cases. Comprehensive Stroke Centers bring together leading experts who represent a variety of disciplines and collaborate using the latest clinical advances and technologies.
“Comprehensive Stroke Center-certified hospitals have better outcomes than non-certified hospitals,” said neurologist Franco Campanella, DO, medical director of the stroke center at Christ Medical Center. “What sets a Comprehensive Stroke Center apart is the ability to provide care for the most complex strokes around the clock 365 days a year.”
More than 900 new stroke patients receive treatment at Christ Medical Center each year, making it one of the busiest stroke centers in the Chicagoland area. As a result of this high volume, the multidisciplinary stroke team has gained the expertise to treat all types of stroke cases. This certification adds depth to the neurosciences program at Christ Medical Center, which includes an integrated team of specialists in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery, neuro-interventional radiology, radiology, nursing, rehabilitation, emergency medicine, social work, pharmacy and nutrition.
“Accreditation and certification in health care provide much more than recognition,” says Yehuda Dror, president of DNV Healthcare. “These programs help establish standards of excellence and best practices that directly impact patients’ lives. Comprehensive Stroke Center is the highest level that can be achieved by a stroke-care program, and we are pleased to be working with the leading organizations to bring forward this new certification. This certification is available to all qualifying hospitals, regardless of who their accrediting organization is.”
In a growing number of states, stroke center certifications determine to which facility a patient should be taken for the most appropriate level of care using stroke specific EMS protocols. In Illinois, EMS (emergency management system) teams may soon be required to transport patients to the most appropriate certified stroke center to help ensure the best possible outcome for the patient.
WARNING SIGNS OF STROKE
The stroke care team at Advocate Christ Medical Center wants you to know the warning signs of stroke and what you should do in the event of a stroke.
- F=Face - ask the person to smile. If one side of the face appears crooked or drooping this person may be having a stroke.
- A=Arms - ask the person to lift both of his or her arms in the air. If he or she has difficulty with one arm, this too might be a sign the person is having a stroke.
- S=Speech - ask the person to speak. If his or her words are slurred or is unable to speak, the person might be having a stroke.
- T=Time. If any of the above symptoms are present, you must call 911 immediately in order to make sure that this person reaches the hospital FAST.
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About Advocate Christ Medical Center
Advocate Christ Medical Center is part of Advocate Health Care, which is one of the nation’s leading health care networks. A not-for-profit, 694-bed, premier teaching institution with more than 1,200 affiliated physicians, Christ Medical Center is a leader in health care and one of the major referral hospitals in the Midwest in a number of specialties, including cardiovascular services, heart, kidney and lung transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, orthopedics and women’s health. The hospital also has one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in Illinois providing emergency care for more than 100,000 patient visits annually and is a leader in breakthrough technologies, including eICU® (electronic intensive care unit) monitoring, robotic da Vinci Surgery System® and CyberKnife® Radiosurgery. For the last three years (2012-2014), the medical center has been named to the Truven Health 100 Top Hospitals® list. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the medical center among the nation’s leading providers for cardiology and heart surgery, geriatric medicine, gynecology and neurology/neurosurgery and rated it overall as being among the top three hospitals in Illinois. The hospital is also recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Magnet Center. Magnet status represents the highest honor in the nursing profession. To obtain more information or to visit our newsroom, log on to: www.advocatehealth.com/cmc