For Immediate Release

Contact:

Bobby Maldonado

248-858-6662

Bobby.Maldonado@stjoeshealth.org

May 29, 2019

CANTON, Mich. (May 29, 2019) – St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor and St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, member hospitals of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS), received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's (AHA/ASA) Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. St. Mary Mercy Livonia, also a SJMHS hospital, was recognized with the Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award.

The Gold Plus recognition is the highest award offered by AHA/ASA for stroke care and acknowledges a hospital's commitment to ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

All three hospitals met specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other transition of care interventions.

St. Joe's Oakland also received AHA/ASA's Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Award, the highest recognition in the award category, while St. Joe's Ann Arbor and St. Mary Mercy Livonia received the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Award. To qualify for this recognition, all three hospitals met quality measures developed to reduce the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and their treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. Nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

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About Get With The Guidelines®

Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.

About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne,

Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 537-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 443-bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 136-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,553 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 16,200 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $1.9 billion and returns about $120 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.

SJMHS is a member of Trinity Health, a leading Catholic health care system based in Livonia, Mich. Trinity Health operates in 22 states, employs about 97,000 people, has annual operating revenues of about $15.8 billion and assets of about $23.4 billion. Additionally, the organization returns almost $1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.

For more information on health services offered at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, please visit www.stjoeshealth.org.