PBMC Stroke Program Maintains
Highest National Standards

The Penobscot Bay Medical Center Stroke Program has once again achieved Primary Stroke Center Certification from the Joint Commission, an independent overseer of medical care quality.

This certification of distinction, represented by the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval, signals to the community that the care given to stroke patients at PBMC meets the highest national standards. It provides tangible demonstration of the PBMC stroke program's commitment to excellence and recognition of its ability to meet scrupulous criteria for managing stroke care.

PBMC was the first of three hospitals in Maine to have achieved this certification; the others are Maine Medical Center in Portland and Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. There are more than 400 certified Primary Stroke Centers in the nation.

PBMC's stroke program received its first stroke certification August 2007. Recertification is granted when a stroke program demonstrates continual compliance with standards set forth by the Joint Commission.

"The PBMC Stroke Program is guided by best-practice standards," said Eileen Hawkins, RN, MSN, CNRN, Stroke Program Coordinator. "Being a nationally recognized stroke program means that we have been certified to treat patients of stroke at the very highest standard of care. This can certainly lead to improvements in patient outcomes and quality of life."

Hawkins and PBMC neurologists Dr. Robert Stein, Dr. Judd Jensen and Dr. Bruce Sigsbee continue to collaborate with community members and providers from all points in the healthcare continuum to meet the Joint Commission's standards and guidelines. The PBMC Stroke Program additionally focuses on continuous quality improvement and stroke awareness and education.

PBMC cares for approximately 160 to 180 patients with stroke each year. The PBMC Stroke Program helps ensure that the hospital continues to make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke patients through improved efficiency of patient care, fewer post stroke complications, increased use of acute stroke therapies, improved long-term outcomes, reduced costs and increased patient and family satisfaction.

More information about the PBMC stroke program is available online at pbmc.org/stroke

Founded in 1951, the Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization, is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare.