Central Carolina Recognized for Efforts to Improve Rural Stroke Care

Central Carolina Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze award for its efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural healthcare outcome disparities.

This new award recognizes the efforts of hospitals nationwide to address the unique health needs of rural communities. People who live in rural areas live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts. They have a 40 percent higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30 percent increased risk for stroke mortality — a gap that has grown over the past two decades.

“Central Carolina is committed to changing that,” said Liz Barber, RN, Stroke Coordinator at CCH. “Rural communities deserve high quality stroke care. I'm proud of our team for their commitment to stroke care excellence and this achievement.”

“We are proud that Central Carolina is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Lee County who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Chris Fensterle, CEO of Central Carolina Hospital. “As a hospital in a rural community, we deal with characteristics such as extended interfacility transportation times and limited staffing resources. We've made it a goal to make sure those hurdles do not affect the standard of care our stoke patients receive.”

The AHA award recognizes hospitals nationwide for their efforts toward acute stroke care excellence as demonstrated by composite score compliance to guideline-directed care for:

• Intravenous thrombolytic therapy
• Timely hospital inter-facility transfers
• Dysphagia screening
• Symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation
• Emergency medical services communication
• Brain imaging
• Stroke expert consultation

As the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, the AHA recognizes the importance of healthcare services provided to people living in rural areas by rural hospitals that play a vital role in initiation of timely evidence-based care.

“Patients and health care professionals in Lee County face unique healthcare challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, co-author on “Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association” and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

“Central Carolina has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”

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About Central Carolina Hospital 

Central Carolina Hospital, a Duke LifePoint Hospital, is a 137-bed acute care hospital that serves the health care needs of Lee County and surrounding communities. With over 120 physicians, the hospital offers a wide range of specialties, including cardiology, orthopedics, general surgery, obstetrics, gynecology, otolaryngology, emergency medicine, emergency medical services, gastroenterology, pediatrics, hospitalist services, internal medicine, nephrology, neurology, hematology, urology, podiatry, dentistry, pulmonary medicine, and wound care and hyperbaric medicine. Hospital services include emergency room, physical and occupational therapy, ophthalmology, cardiac rehabilitation, diagnostic imaging and radiology, inpatient and outpatient surgery, dialysis, maternity services, nutritional counseling by clinical dietitians, and diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Central Carolina Hospital was reaccredited by the Joint Commission for a three-year period in 2021.