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First in Florida to Receive National Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic’s stroke center in Jacksonville is the first center in Florida to receive national Comprehensive Stroke Center certification, joining an elite group of centers throughout the United States that are focused on providing advanced and complex stroke care.
Centers that achieve this distinction — awarded by The Joint Commission working with the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association — are recognized as leaders that help set the national agenda in highly specialized stroke care. The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.
To date, only a few dozen medical centers across the country have received this top national certification, which was created in 2012. Previously, Mayo Clinic in Florida was certified as a Joint Commission Primary Stroke Center.
The certification was awarded after a rigorous on-site review that recognized Mayo Clinic’s state-of-the-art infrastructure and highly trained staff that treats patients with complex conditions such as subarachnoid hemorrhage and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.
“By achieving this advanced certification, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville has thoroughly demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of its patients with a complex stroke condition,” says Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president and CEO, The Joint Commission. “Certification is a voluntary process, and The Joint Commission commends Mayo Clinic for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate the standard of its care for the community it serves.”
Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Centers are required to have:
- A dedicated neuro-intensive care unit
- A high volume of stroke cases
- Advanced resources for the acute treatment of stroke patients available 24 hours a day
- Advanced neuro-diagnostic tools
- Certified vascular neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuro-radiologists and vascular surgeons
- Advanced practice nurses
- A system that optimizes the benefits of carotid artery procedures
- Participation in stroke research
“Receiving the national Comprehensive Stroke Center certification is a testament to the commitment and expertise of the integrated team of doctors, nurses, technicians, therapists and other health professionals at Mayo Clinic who come to work every day to deliver the highest quality of care to our patients,” says interventional neuro-radiologist David Miller, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic’s stroke center in Florida.
Each year in the United States more than 800,000 people experience a stroke. Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in adults in this country.
“This certification highlights our commitment to education and sharing our expertise and resources to help fight this deadly disease,” Dr. Miller says, offering as an example the telestroke network, which extends Mayo’s cerebrovascular expertise to patients throughout Florida and Georgia. Since 2010, the telestroke team has used advanced technology to remotely evaluate and offer evidence-based treatment for patients who cannot be transferred to Mayo Clinic in time to receive clot-busting therapy.
Mayo Clinic in Florida’s Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center includes a multidisciplinary team of physicians from emergency medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, critical care and radiology, as well as nursing and rehabilitation services, pharmacy and social work. The center offers clinical trials providing the latest therapies for acute stroke, carotid artery disease, cerebral aneurysms and other complex cerebrovascular diseases. Additionally, the center engages in research looking at the underlying causes and genetic factors surrounding these conditions.
The Stroke Center at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville has also been certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration since 2007.
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About Mayo Clinic
Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, MayoClinic.org or newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/.
MEDIA CONTACT: Cynthia Weiss, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0464, Email: weiss.cynthia@mayo.edu
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