Hospital receives American Stroke Association’s Stroke Gold Plus and Honor Roll Elite Plus Awards

May 23, 2016

The Hospital of Central Connecticut (HOCC) has received the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®- Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award as well as the Target: Stroke℠ Honor Roll Elite Plus Award.

Earning this recognition is directly related to meeting specific stroke care quality measures. The Elite Plus Award, in particular, focuses on reducing the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-busting drug known as tPA, the only drug approved to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously within the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and reduce the chance of permanent disability.

To meet the AHA’s guidelines for the Elite Plus Award, 75 percent of patients must receive tPA within 60 minutes of arrival and at least 50 percent within 45 minutes. Last year, 92 percent of HOCC’s patients received tPA within 60 minutes and 50 percent within 45 minutes. HOCC treats approximately 375 stroke and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) every year.