St. Francis Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award” with the designation of “Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite.”

The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized and research-based guidelines.

Hospitals must achieve a level of 85 percent or higher on “achievement indicators” for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite designation, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.

“A stroke patient loses 2 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed,” Dr. Nojan Valadi pf St. Francis Neurology, said in a statement. “This recognition further demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely.”