Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Receives National Gold Plus Quality Award for Stroke Treatment for Sixth Year in a Row

August 16, 2023

Cheyenne, WY—Cheyenne Regional Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement award for its commitment to excellence in stroke care.

Get With The Guidelines – Target Stroke is a national hospital program for improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to evidence-based practices that lead to optimal patient outcomes. Those outcomes often mean a reduction in permanent disability and deaths.

This is the sixth year in a row that CRMC has received the Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus award.

Gold Plus-level hospitals must meet rigorous time-sensitive metrics for treating patients experiencing an acute stroke and must follow proper medication use and other key treatments aligned with the most up-to-date stroke care guidelines. This includes educating patients to help them manage their health and recovery at home.

CRMC received the quality award for demonstrating 85 percent compliance in stroke care performance for more than 24 consecutive months.

Stroke remains the fifth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds, and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, the surrounding brain tissue dies.

Early stroke recognition and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times. One way to remember stroke symptoms is to use the “BE FAST” acronym:

B – Balance: Is the person having trouble with balance?
E – Eyesight: Does the person have blurred or double vision or a sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes?

F – Facial droop: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb?
A – Arm: Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise each arm. Does one arm drift down?
S – Speech: Is speech slurred, or is the person unable to speak or hard to understand?
T – Time to call 911: If a person shows any of these symptoms, it’s time to call 911 and get them to a hospital immediately (even if the symptoms go away).

“Strokes can be devastating to patients and their families,” said Dr. Tracie Caller, a neurologist and medical director of CRMC’s stroke program. “We are very proud that we are able to provide Laramie County residents with high-quality stroke care that helps them achieve the best outcome possible.”

CRMC also received the AHA’s Target Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award in conjunction with the Gold Plus award for ensuring that patients with type 2 diabetes receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to a stroke. Stroke patients with type 2 diabetes may be at higher risk for complications.

“We are incredibly pleased to recognize Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for its commitment to caring for patients with stroke,” said Steven Messe, MD, volunteer chairperson of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group and professor of neurology and director of fellowships of neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

“This accomplishment demonstrates Cheyenne Regional Medical Center’s unwavering commitment to providing a higher standard of care,” said Hope Robinson, CRMC’s stroke program manager. “Our community can trust in our ability to provide high- quality and safe treatment for our stroke patients.”