Holston Valley Medical Center, Bristol Regional Medical Center and Hawkins County Memorial Hospital Earn Prestigious Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Quality Awards

Holston Valley Medical Center, Bristol Regional Medical Center and Hawkins County Memorial Hospital have been recognized for their excellence in acute stroke care by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association through the prestigious Get With The Guidelines® Stroke quality awards.

Holston Valley Medical Center and Bristol Regional Medical Center both earned the Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Award, while Hawkins County Memorial Hospital earned the Get With The Guidelines® Rural Stroke Silver Quality Award. Holston Valley was also placed on the placed the Stroke Honor Roll Elite, and Bristol Regional on the Stroke Honor Roll and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

These awards recognize both hospitals' commitment to providing top-tier stroke care. The honors reflect compliance with the seven key achievement measures, including intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely inter-facility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, EMS communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.

The Stroke Gold Quality Award is awarded to hospitals that demonstrate at least 85% compliance with these measures for 24 consecutive months, a standard that Holston Valley has met for the second year in a row. Holston Valley also achieved Honor Roll Elite status, with over 85% of stroke patients receiving treatment within the critical 60-minute door-to-needle time window.

“We are incredibly proud of our dedicated team at Holston Valley Medical Center,” said Rebecca Beck, CEO of Holston Valley Medical Center. “Achieving the Stroke Gold Plus Quality Award for the second consecutive year and earning Stroke Honor Roll Elite status serves as a reminder of the impact our work has on the lives of our patients and their families. It reaffirms our commitment to delivering exceptional care and continually raising the bar in stroke treatment.”

Bristol Regional earned Honor Roll status for treating 75% or more of eligible stroke patients within 60 minutes and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll status for demonstrating adherence to American Heart Association’s diabetes cardiovascular measures for 12 consecutive months.

“Our team’s dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence in patient care is the driving force behind this recognition,” said John Jeter, CEO of Bristol Regional Medical Center. “Earning this award for our stroke and diabetes care is a testament to the hard work, expertise and compassion our team members bring to our community every day. I am incredibly proud of their commitment to improving lives and ensuring the highest standard of care for our patients.”

Hawkins County Memorial Hospital earned the Get With The Guidelines® Rural Stroke Silver Quality Award for demonstrating compliance with these measures over the past 12 months, showcasing their commitment to delivering high-quality stroke care to the rural community.

“We are proud that our team at Hawkins County Memorial is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in our community who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Hunter Hamilton, administrator at Hawkins County Memorial Hospital.

“As a hospital in a rural community, we deal with unique circumstances, such as extended interfacility transportation times, and limited staffing resources, but we've made it a goal to make sure those hurdles do not affect the standard of care our stoke patients receive. Rural communities deserve high quality stroke care, and I'm proud of our team for their commitment to stroke care excellence and this achievement.”