HUNTINGDON, Tenn., Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines — Stroke Rural Recognition Silver Award for its efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities.
People in rural communities live an average of three years less than their urban counterparts and have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease. They also face a 30% increased risk for stroke mortality, a gap that has grown over the past two decades.
“It means a great deal to the heart and stroke teams at Baptist Carroll County to be recognized for the quality care they provide,” said Susan Breeden, CEO and administrator of Baptist Carroll County. “Our staff works hard to stay up to date on best practices for stroke treatment so they can provide excellent care for every patient. By following the American Heart Association’s stroke guidelines, our team gives patients the best possible chance of recovery and survival regardless of where they live.”
This award recognizes hospitals for their efforts to achieve acute stroke care excellence by complying with guideline-directed care for intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely hospital interfacility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.
“Patients and health care professionals in Carroll County face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Dr. Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association. “Baptist Carroll County has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”
The American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, recognizes the importance of health care services provided to people living in rural areas by rural hospitals that play a vital role in initiation of timely evidence-based care. For that reason, all rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines — Stroke are eligible to receive award recognition based on a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics.
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-Valued 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 2024. For more information, visit baptistonline.org/carrollcounty or follow us on Facebook at @BaptistCarrollCounty.