Joint Commission renews UCI Health comprehensive stroke center certification
Award recognizes commitment to providing highly specialized stroke care
April 14, 2016
The Joint Commission, healthcare’s premier standards-setting and accrediting body, renewed certification of excellence in providing stroke care to the UCI Health Comprehensive Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center. It is The Joint Commission’s highest certification for stroke care and confirms that UC Irvine Medical Center offers the state-of-the-art infrastructure, staff and training to receive and treat patients with the most complex strokes.
“This designation reflects our commitment to providing the highest quality stroke care,” said Dr. Wengui Yu, director of the UCI Health Comprehensive Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center. “Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification highlights the exceptional stroke care our entire team provides our patients, from emergency treatment to rehabilitation.”
In October, Joint Commission experts conducted a rigorous on-site review to ensure the hospital complies with the Comprehensive Stroke Center standards and requirements, including advanced imaging capabilities, 24/7 availability of specialized treatments, and staff with the unique education and competencies to care for complex stroke patients.
Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification was developed in collaboration with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and derived from the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for Comprehensive Stroke Centers,” and “Metrics for Measuring Quality of Care in Comprehensive Stroke Centers,” and on recommendations from a multidisciplinary advisory panel of experts in complex stroke care.
The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 20,000 healthcare organizations in the US.
“By achieving advanced certification, UCI Health has thoroughly demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of its patients with a complex stroke condition,” said Mark R. Chassin, MD, president, The Joint Commission. “Certification is a voluntary process and The Joint Commission commends UCI Health for successfully undertaking the challenge to elevate the standards of care for the community it serves.”
UCI Health has long been a leader in stroke care. It received Orange County’s first certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center in 2013 and was instrumental in creating the Orange County Stroke-Neurology Receiving System in 2009.
Achievements include:
- Advanced specialty certification continues to play an important role in delivering the best possible care, and several UCI Health Comprehensive Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center nurses recently earned advanced professional credentials. Five nurses earned the Stroke Care Registered Nurse® credential, in recognition of the necessary skills, knowledge and experience unique to the practice of stroke care, and seven nurses earned the Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse® credential, in recognition of excellence in nursing care for the patient with a neurological condition.
- March 2015 - Launched the telestroke program with Corona Regional Medical Center. In the first 12 months, UCI Health stroke neurology experts provided more than 226 remote consultations, with 62 patients transferred to UC Irvine Medical Center for higher levels of care.
- October 2015 - UCI Health received the Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for excellence in stroke care. This designation signifies that UCI Health has achieved the goal of delivering prompt, appropriate stroke treatment that saves lives and reduces the likelihood of recurrence.
UCI Health comprises the clinical, medical education and research enterprises of the University of California, Irvine. Patients can access UCI Health at physician offices throughout Orange County and at its main campus, UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, Calif., a 411-bed acute care hospital that provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, and behavioral health and rehabilitation services. U.S. News & World Report has listed it among America’s Best Hospitals for 15 consecutive years. UC Irvine Medical Center features Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program, Level I trauma center and Level II pediatric trauma center, and it is the primary teaching hospital for the UC Irvine School of Medicine. UCI Health serves a region of more than 3 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the University of California, Irvine: Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $4.8 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.
