Huntingdon, Tenn.–Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County has joined the American Heart Association’s Rural Health Care Outcomes Accelerator to help eliminate rural health disparities.
According to the American Heart Association, people in rural areas live, on average, three years less than their urban counterparts. Rural populations also have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30% increased risk for stroke mortality. The Rural Health Care Outcomes Accelerator provides participating hospitals with no-cost access to Get With The Guidelines quality programs and access to clinical experts, quality consultants and other resources to address the unique health needs of patients in rural areas.
“Baptist Carroll County is proud to be taking on this important work as a Rural Pathfinder Hospital to help ensure the highest quality of care for people in Carroll County,” said Susan Breeden, CEO and administrator of Baptist Carroll County. “Meeting the unique needs of people in rural areas is critical to improving health for all.”
Baptist Carroll County will work other rural clinical experts and leaders to help develop clinical decision pathways and publish rural quality and outcomes research. Baptist Carroll County and other participating Pathfinder sites will have access to professional education, an online rural community network that encourages peer-to-peer connection and resources to support model practice sharing and collaborative innovation.
“Patients and health care professionals in (patient population areas) face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Dr. Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, co-author on “Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association” and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “Baptist Carroll County will help shape this important work and improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”
The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century.
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient medical care to West Tennessee in a variety of specialized areas, including cardiac care, pediatrics, general surgery, physical therapy and palliative care, among others. The 70-bed facility is located in Huntingdon, Tennessee, and offers advanced medical technology, such as 3D mammography and the Baptist TeleHealth Center, which uses TeleGuardian. Baptist Carroll County is the recipient of many awards and accolades, including the Tennessee Quality Award, Premier Inc.’s QUEST Award for High-Value Healthcare, the Quest Hero Award, Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval in 2015 and an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from the Leapfrog Group in 2023. For more information, visit baptistonline.org/carrollcounty.