Trinity stroke program receives dual honor
Trinity Health has received two-fold recognition for its stroke care, according to a press release. The Joint Commission, the nation's leading health accrediting body, has approved Trinity Hospital as a certified Primary Stroke Center.
A Primary Stroke Center is a hospital that has been certified to perform best practices when it comes to stroke care. Trinity's approval was based on an on-site review of the hospital's care practices conducted Nov. 9.
In addition, the American Heart Association recently presented Trinity Health with its Bronze Award for demonstrating high compliance with stroke care standards.
Dr. Maximo Kiok, neurologist and director of Trinity's stroke program, said this dual honor demonstrates Trinity's commitment to provide care that optimizes patients' outcomes. "This is all about patient care," he said. "The importance of these standards is that they are science-based; they have been proven to make a difference in the outcomes of patients who are experiencing stroke."
Although Trinity Health has long served stroke patients, it embarked two years ago on an effort earn certification as a stroke center. The goal of every stroke center is to assess, diagnose and treat stroke patients within the critical three-hour window that is required to minimize the loss of brain tissue. To accomplish this, a hospital must adopt certain protocols.
In addition to adopting the protocols, Trinity Health named Jerilyn Alexander, registered nurse, as stroke coordinator. Alexander's role is to follow each stroke case and let providers know the outcome so that improvements can be made in the way future stroke cases are handled. She has also been leading Trinity's education efforts on the warning signs of stroke.
Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the leading cause of adult disability. For more information, go to (www.trinityhealth.org).
- Jill Hambek
N.D. Dept. of Health receives funds from DentaQuest
BISMARCK The North Dakota Department of Health is announcing that it will be receiving year two funding from the DentaQuest Foundation to support its proposed action plan to address issues related to oral and dental health services to the underserved in North Dakota.
"The N.D. Department of Health is a strong and passionate community leader. The department has worked hard to build community support for oral health," said Ralph Fuccillo, president of the DentaQuest Foundation. "Their planning is sound. We are excited to see what develops as they engage their communities to embrace the challenge and opportunity of remediating oral health disparities in their communities."
North Dakota is one of 18 state nonprofit partners who are part of the Oral Health 2014 Initiative. Launched by the DentaQuest Foundation in 2011, the Oral Health 2014 Initiative aims to eliminate systemic barriers that limit access to oral health care by fostering strong community partnerships committed to collective impact.
During phase one, the Department of Health worked to develop multi-dimensional community partnerships and engaged them in the development of an oral health action plan to address increased delivery of oral health care to populations that have difficulty finding access to care, either due to financial limitations or geographical limitations. In the second phase of this multi-year initiative, North Dakota Oral Health stakeholders will introduce Smiles for Life, an online oral health curriculum to increase basic knowledge of oral health prevention, screening and application of fluoride varnish in medical/nursing schools, to health care professionals and staff at long-term care facilities in North Dakota, as well as starting a long-term care outreach pilot program to increase access for the aging and disabled population. The DentaQuest Foundation will support this effort with funding and technical assistance.
For more information about the DentaQuest grant, contact Bobbie Will, N.D. Department of Health, at 701-328-4515.
- Jill Hambek