Good Samaritan and St. Francis Nationally-Recognized for Rapid Stroke Treatment 

Kearney and Grand Island, Nebraska–CHI Health Good Samaritan and CHI Health St. Francis, the region’s designated Primary Stroke Centers, have been awarded the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. 

The honor recognizes both hospitals’ sustained commitment to delivering effective stroke treatment, including a high designation for rapidly restoring blood-flow to minimize damage and improve recovery. Fewer than 30% of U.S. patients with acute ischemic stroke are treated within the ideal 60-minute door-to-thrombolytic therapy window. 

Good Samaritan also received the Get With The Guidelines® Rural Stroke Gold award, the highest designation. This award recognizes the hospital's commitment to addressing health disparities in rural areas by adhering to evidence-based standards, including prompt arrival-to-treatment times. As an urban hospital, St. Francis was not eligible.

According to the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

About Get With The Guidelines®

Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit https://www.heart.org/en/professional/quality-improvement/get-with-the-guidelines/get-with-the-guidelines-stroke.