Sibley Memorial Hospital has earned The Joint Commission's Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers for 2019.

Washington, DC -- Sibley Memorial Hospital has earned The Joint Commission's Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers for 2019. This prestigious  award recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care, according to The Joint Commission.

To be eligible, hospitals must demonstrate compliance with stroke-related standards as a Primary Stroke Center and meet additional requirements, including those related to advanced imaging capabilities, 24/7 availability of specialized treatments, and specialized education and competencies to care for staff. 

“This recognition underscores our ongoing commitment to providing rapid and advanced stroke care that is evidence-based, effective and compassionate,” says Jason Freeman, M.D., medical director of Sibley’s stroke program. “This award provides tangible evidence of our stroke team’s commitment to ensuring that our patients receive rapid and effective care that is based on internationally respected best practices.”

The Joint Commission’s Primary Stroke Center Certification program was developed in collaboration with the American Stroke Association and is based on the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for the Established of Primary Stroke Centers.”

Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

Sibley also received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get with The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing nationally recognized, evidence-based stroke treatment.

About Sibley Memorial Hospital
Sibley Memorial Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Northwest Washington, D.C., has a distinguished history of serving the community since its founding in 1890. As a not-for-profit, full-service, 386-bed community hospital, Sibley offers medical, surgical, intensive care, obstetric, oncology, orthopaedic and skilled nursing inpatient services and a state-of-the-art 24-hour Emergency Department. Sibley’s campus, with its new patient tower, is also home to the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center; Grand Oaks, an assisted living residence; a medical building with physician offices; and ambulatory surgery and imaging centers. For more information, visit Sibley.org.

About The Joint Commission
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

About the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association are devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers. The Dallas-based American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. For more information on the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Hospital Accreditation Program visit www.heart.org/myhospital.