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Upstate team receives award from American Heart Association.

Upstate receives three awards for exceptional care from American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has presented Upstate University Hospital with three new awards in recognition of its outstanding care for the treatment of stroke, heart failure and resuscitation of adults.

Upstate has received the Gold Plus with Target Diabetes and Target: Heart Failure Honor Rolls Get With the Guidelines Award; the Gold (Adult) Resuscitation Get With The Guidelines Award; and the Gold Plus with Target: Diabetes and Target: stroke Elite Plus Honor Rolls Get With the Guidelines Award. All three awards are for 2020 data.

“We are very proud of these awards from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association as it recognizes several very important fields of work here at Upstate,” said Upstate CEO Robert Corona, DO, MBA. “To be recognized by this well-respected organization is a great honor for Upstate and we are very proud of the tremendous care our teams provide our patients.”

Stroke Program Manager Josh Onyan, BSN, RN, SCRN, said the AHA honors are always significant but even more so during the pandemic.

“This is a true testament to the quality of the stroke care that is provided at Upstate,” Onyan said. “Despite a global pandemic, we proved to our region that we are always here for them when they need us.”

Upstate’s stroke care has been honored previously by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Upstate is the region’s first Comprehensive Stroke Center as designated by DNV Healthcare, a national hospital accrediting body. The 2021 award for stroke is specific to Upstate University Hospital.

“The American Heart Association uses this award to recognize the fastest stroke treatment while maintaining the highest quality of stroke care,” Onyan said. “This award symbolizes our commitment to stroke care at Upstate.”

Connie Randolph, RN, MS, CNS, CCCC, coordinator of the heart failure program, said the honor is a win for Upstate and its patients.

“Upstate is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients with heart failure by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines-HF initiative,” Randolph said. “Improving care by promoting consistent adherence to the latest scientific evidence, the Gold Plus with Target: Diabetes and Target Heart Failure Honor Roll is the highest award for our Heart Failure program we have achieved. This award demonstrates our commitment to our heart failure patients in our community.”

Upstate has been honored previously by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for its Heart Failure program. The 2021 award for heart failure applies to both hospital campuses.

Upstate’s Resuscitation Team has earned bronze, then silver and now gold recognition from AHA during the last three consecutive years. The 2021 award for resuscitation is specific to Upstate University Hospital.

“Our program is truly honored to have received the American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines-Resuscitation Gold Quality Achievement Award,” said Resuscitation Quality Coordinator Matthew A. Grover, BSN, RN, ECLS Spec. “This recognition speaks to Upstate’s continued dedication in identifying and implementing evidenced-based care and practice during cardiac arrest with the ultimate goal being to ensure optimal patient outcomes.”

Caption: Members of the Upstate Resuscitation and the Upstate SWAT team, pose with their AHA award. From left to right are Rachel Merrick, RN; Nicole Staring, RN; Ellen Anderson, RN; Matthew Grover, RN; and Brian Fitzgerald, RN.

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