Fall River, New Bedford, and Wareham hospitals receive national recognition for care in 2023

FALL RIVER, NEW BEDFORD, and WAREHAM Mass. – All three Southcoast Health hospitals, including Charlton Memorial, St. Luke’s, and Tobey, earned national recognition for excellent stroke care in 2023, Southcoast officials announced today.

“We are honored to once again earn this recognition from the American Heart Association and the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program for clinical excellence in stoke care across the region,” said Dr. Daniel Sacchetti, Stroke Director for Southcoast Health. “This recognition is a testament to our unwavering commitment to our patients and community. I am tremendously proud of the entire Southcoast team of physicians, providers, nurses and staff who provide top-notch stroke care every day.”

The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®– Stroke Awards are presented to hospitals for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to the latest scientific treatment of stroke.

The association awarded both Charlton Memorial Hospital and Tobey Hospital with the Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus, Target: Stroke Honor Roll℠ Elite with a Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, and St. Luke’s Hospital with the Get with the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus award with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

St. Luke’s also had the honor of receiving the Modified Rankin Scale Award from The Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program. This award reflects documentation of the Modified Rankin Scale at discharge for at least 95 percent of admitted stroke patients. Charlton Memorial received recognition from the program for Achieving Door to CT; completing door to CT processes in less than or equal to 25 minutes from arrival for at least 75 percent of stroke patients.

Southcoast Health has implemented best practice workflows with emergency medical services and neighboring health systems to coordinate timely noninvasive and invasive stroke services across the region.

A stroke is a serious medical condition that requires emergency care. According to the CDC, every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a stroke, totaling to more than 795,000 people in the United States every year. Stokes are also the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the country.

“It is a great accomplishment to receive these awards and they will serve as motivation to continue advancing the high-quality care we provide to our community and in deep collaboration with emergency medical services and providers across the region. I want to congratulate Dr. Sacchetti and his team for this national recognition of their hard work,” said Dr. Dani Hackner, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer for Southcoast Health. “Being able to provide exceptional and highly accessible stroke care is a team effort and getting stroke patients to medical care quickly can greatly improve patient outcomes.”

Knowing the key signs and symptoms of a stroke and calling 9-1-1 immediately can save a life and help prevent disability. The F.A.S.T. acronym is an easy way to remember both.

· Face: Does the face look uneven? Ask the person to smile

· Arm: Does one arm drift down? Ask the person to raise both arms

· Speech: Does the speech sound strange? Ask the person to repeat a phrase

· Time: If you observe these symptoms, call 9-1-1

The U.S. News and World Report additionally recognized all three Southcoast Health hospitals as high performing in five procedures and conditions this year including heart attack, heart failure and stroke, along with diabetes and colon cancer surgery as well as providing essential maternity care access services in the region.