Columbia, MD – Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine has received five American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline achievement awards for demonstrating commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke, leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.

Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke or heart attack, and heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death in the United States, respectively. Studies show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines.

Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline put the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest evidence- and research-based guidelines. As a participant in Mission: Lifeline and Get With The Guidelines programs, Howard County General Hospital qualified for the award by demonstrating how the hospital has committed to improving quality care.

This year, Howard County General Hospital received these achievement awards:

• Get With The Guidelines-Stroke GOLD PLUS recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment.
• Target: Stroke Honor Roll
• Target: Type II Diabetes Honor Roll Award for meeting quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
• Mission: Lifeline STEMI Receiving Gold Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to treat patients who experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment.
• Mission: Lifeline NSTEMI Gold Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to treat patients experiencing a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), caused by a partial blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment.

About Howard County General Hospital
Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine is a not-for-profit health care provider with 226 licensed beds located in Columbia, Maryland. A comprehensive, acute-care medical center, Howard County General offers a full range of services, from neonatal care and oncology to outpatient treatment and critical care.

The hospital has a professional staff of more than 1,000 physicians and allied health professionals, representing 118 specialties and subspecialties and a workforce of nearly 1,800 employees.

About Mission: Lifeline
The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program helps hospitals and emergency medical services develop systems of care that follow proven standards and procedures for STEMI patients. The program works by mobilizing teams across the continuum of care to implement American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation clinical treatment guidelines. For more information, visit heart.org.

About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with 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 12-million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.