UConn Health has recently received several high honors for patient care excellence across cardiovascular medicine in the clinical care areas of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, diabetes and pulmonary hypertension.
Three ‘Gold Plus’ Awards
UConn Health and UConn John Dempsey Hospital have received three ‘Gold Plus’ level awards for continued excellence in stroke, heart failure, and STEMI heart attack patient care by The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association including:
- The stroke care team at UConn Health has been honored with the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. In addition, it is now a member of the Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite. Recognition is for its commitment in providing rapid and appropriate stroke treatment to reduce the time between a patient’s hospital arrival and treatment with the clot-busting stroke medication tPA to reduce the chance of disabilities and death. Each year nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke. In fact, a stroke strikes an American every 40 seconds and takes a life every four minutes.
- For heart failure care UConn Health has been awarded the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and is now on the Target: Heart FailureSM Honor Roll. It has successfully implemented quality improvement measures for heart failure patients and enhanced diagnosis and treatment, while speeding patient recovery and reducing hospital readmissions. As an honor roll member, UConn Health is recognized for leveraging educational tools, prevention programs and treatment guidelines to further reduce the risk of heart failure patient readmissions and improve their quality of life. Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans and about 870,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
- UConn Health has been recognized as a Gold Plus 2017 Mission: Lifeline STEMI Receiving Center by the American Heart Association. This is UConn John Dempsey Hospital’s first Gold Plus designation, and the third consecutive year as a Gold level designated hospital. It is honored for its continued excellence in the treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks caused by a heart blockage known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This type of heart attack requires timely treatment to prevent further heart muscle damage or a patient’s death. This year UConn is also recognized for the first time with the newly created Mission: Lifeline NSTEMI – ‘Bronze’ level award.
Diabetes Educator of the Year
Jean Kostak, M.S., R.D., CD-N, CDE, was named by The Connecticut Alliance of Diabetic Educators on May 31 as the ‘Diabetic Educator of the Year.’ Since 2007 Kostak has served as a diabetes education specialist at UConn Health. Selected by her peers, Kostak was honored for her continued excellence in diabetes patient outreach and outstanding patient care.
“Congratulations to Jean on an honor well deserved,” shared Anne Horbatuck, VP of ambulatory services at UConn Health.” Ann Marie Capo, UConn Health’s chief nursing officer also shared: “Jean congratulations on receiving the Diabetic Educator of the Year award. You have devoted your entire career to diabetes education and I am so happy to know that you have been recognized for your dedication to the care and education of the diabetic patient.”
Regional Excellence for Pulmonary Hypertension Care
UConn Health is now designated by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) as a Pulmonary Hypertension Regional Clinical Program. By designating regional centers of excellence across the nation the PHA hopes to improve the overall quality of care and outcomes of pulmonary hypertension patients. UConn Health was identified and approved as a regional program due to its infrastructure and experience to best manage the disease. The accreditation runs until May 2020 when an onsite reaccreditation review by the PHA will occur.
“I would like to thank all of you for the hard work and dedication that you have provided to our patients and their families,” shared Dr. Raymond J. Foley, director of the Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program at UConn Health, with his staff. “We look forward to continue working with you and strengthening the UConn Health Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program for years to come.” The PHA recognized UConn Health’s program strengths for its cohesive and dedicated team of healthcare professionals meeting the complex needs of this patient population; its leadership’s strong commitment to the program; its modern facilities and equipment; adherence to treatment guidelines and standards of care; and offering patient support groups.
