Zyria Simmons
Earlier this month, CHI St Joseph's Health in Park Rapids received an award for its stroke program in recognition of meeting the community's need for a designated stroke hospital in the area.
The Minnesota Department of Health designates hospitals across Minnesota to provide the best care to patients and their communities. The department has developed criteria that hospitals must meet to be considered stroke ready. CHI Saint Joseph's Health received the designation in June 2023.
“We had laid some groundwork before starting the program, so the process had already begun,” said Laura Gonska, CHI St. Joseph Health ED ICU Director. “We have just built that foundation and clearly defined roles. We have set up a very comprehensive stroke team. That's why our stroke team has members from the lab, radiology, pharmacy, patient access, hospital… we've got data abstraction. And all of that group. came together and helped build a really strong program.”
Everyone in the hospital plays a role in keeping the stroke program strong and striving. But Gonska pointed to specific groups working to improve care.
“[We] We started the program with our current nurse champions. We needed someone to provide real-time feedback to our staff at any time. And we continue to grow with it. ” Gonska explained. “So even though we are off to a strong start, our RN nurse champions continue to grow our program by developing education for our staff. We're developing it. So we're expanding on what we already have.”
CHI St. Joseph's Health received the Community Champion Award for meaningful and long-term improvements in stroke care. Special thanks were given to the RN Nurse Champions for their assistance with this program.
“[It was a] I'm really happy to receive that award. We put a lot of time into this program and our RN nurse champions really deserve that recognition for bringing an additional element to this program. So winning this award just highlights how important they are to our program. ”
CHI St. Joseph's Health is one of seven hospitals recognized for its commitment to providing quality stroke care at the Minnesota Stroke Conference.
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