September 9, 2008
For Immediate Release

Sacred Heart Hospital earns American Heart Association Bronze Award

Eau Claire, Wis., - Sacred Heart Hospital was recently awarded the 2008 Bronze Initial Performance Award by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. The award recognizes performance for three consecutive months of 85% or higher adherence to all performance measures. The hospital’s award was presented in the “America’s Best Hospitals” (July 21) issue of US News & World Report.

Jeannie Pittenger, CNRN, Assistant Director, Neurosciences/Pediatrics, and Stroke Program Coordinator at Sacred Heart Hospital, commented, “Hospitals today have a wealth of research providing a solid blueprint for stroke treatments. It’s all about the patient. Medical studies show the ‘Get With the Guidelines’ hospitals are associated with improvements in guidelines-based care.”

“Get With The Guidelines” is an award-winning quality improvement program sponsored by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. By promoting the latest evidence-based treatment for stroke patients, “Get With The Guidelines” helps improve health and save lives. The program was launched in 2000 to support and facilitate the improvement of the quality of care of patients using a web based patient management tool to collect clinical data, provide decision support, and provide real-time online reporting features.

The need for quality improvement programs is well established, with more than eight million adult Americans having had a heart attack. Stroke remains the third leading cause of death and the first leading cause of disability in the United States.

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Sacred Heart Hospital is an affiliate of the Hospital Sisters Health System. Since 1889 it has been meeting patient needs in western Wisconsin with the latest medical innovations and technology, together with a Franciscan whole-person healing tradition.