COLUMBIA, Md. — Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold and Mission: Lifeline® NSTEMI Gold quality awards. The awards recognize the medical center’s commitment to ensuring stroke and NSTEMI heart attack patients receive the best treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.

In addition, Johns Hopkins Howard County made the American Heart Association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes℠ Honor Roll for ensuring patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.

Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline are the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement programs that provide hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Each year, program participants qualify for the awards by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also educate patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.

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.

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

The medical center has a professional staff of nearly 1,000 physicians and allied health professionals, representing 120 specialties and subspecialties, and a workforce of more than 1,800 employees.