New York State Coverdell Stroke Quality Improvement Program Enlists Hospitals to Improve Stroke Care and Patient Outcomes

ALBANY, N.Y. (September 15, 2016) - The New York State Department of Health (DOH) and Health Research Inc. have expanded the New York State Coverdell Stroke Quality Improvement Program by recruiting 56 hospitals to participate in a federally funded initiative dedicated to improving systems of care for acute stroke. Stroke remains the fourth leading cause of death in New York accounting for 6,000 deaths annually, and is the leading cause of adult disability.

New York's expanded Coverdell program will support the development of comprehensive, regional stroke systems to improve stroke care and patient outcomes by encouraging best practices in primary care, community education, emergency medical services, hospital, and post-acute care related to stroke.

New York is one of only nine states to receive grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program (PCNASP), which works to improve care delivery across the clinical continuum and enhance patient outcomes. Among the goals of the program is to improve timeliness of acute stroke care, improve recovery, reduce complications, lower hospital readmissions and reduce the rates of early mortality.

New York's Coverdell Stroke Program is in the midst of a five-year grant that was awarded in 2015 after receiving a similar three-year grant from the CDC in 2012. The Coverdell program is named after Georgia Senator Paul Coverdell who died of a stroke in 2000 while in Congress. The program provides resources to states to guide quality improvement interventions for stroke care.

"I'm pleased to see that we have 56 hospitals that have signed on to participate in New York's Coverdell Stroke Program," said Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker. "In doing so, they are pledging to work with their partners on improving all levels of stroke care, and helping New Yorkers recover from what is often a life-altering event."

All 56 of the New York Coverdell hospitals have committed to engage their partners in EMS and post-acute settings to better coordinate care provided to stroke patients. Coverdell hospitals have also agreed to collect and report data in key performance areas to the DOH and CDC. The 56 hospitals include both academic medical centers and community hospitals and cover all five regions of New York State.

In addition to being Coverdell hospitals, all 56 hospitals participate in New York's Stroke Designation program, meaning they are ready to provide a basic level of acute stroke care at a moment's notice. New York has a total of 120 designated stroke centers.

During the initial funding period in 2012, the New York Coverdell Program focused on improving components of in-hospital care for stroke, including processes to ensure the timely delivery of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a therapy intended to dissolve clots responsible for stroke. Over the course of the initiative, Coverdell hospitals demonstrated significant improvements in the timely delivery of tPA. Between October 2014 and June 2015, the percentage of stoke patients receiving tPA within 60 minutes of admission increased from 60.9% to 69.9% in the Coverdell hospitals. In 2014, New York had 32,071 strokes and 9,447 transient ischemic attacks, known as mini-strokes, which account for 41,518 hospital discharges annually.

For more information about the New York State Coverdell Stoke Quality Improvement and Registry Program visit http://www.health.ny.gov/facilities/hospital/stroke_centers/coverdell_resources.htm.

For more information about the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program visit http://www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/programs/stroke_registry.htm.

Coverdell Participating Hospitals

  1. Albany Medical Center Hospital
  2. Albany Memorial Hospital
  3. Arnot Ogden Medical Center
  4. Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center - Concourse Division
  5. Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center
  6. Brooklyn Hospital Center
  7. Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute
  8. Ellis Hospital
  9. Faxton-St. Lukes Healthcare
  10. Forest Hills Hospital
  11. Franklin Hospital
  12. Geneva General Hospital
  13. Highland Hospital
  14. Huntington Hospital
  15. Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
  16. John T. Mather Memorial Hospital
  17. Kenmore Mercy Hospital
  18. Kings County
  19. Lenox Hill Hospital
  20. Long Island Jewish Medical Center
  21. Mercy Hospital of Buffalo
  22. Mercy Medical Center
  23. Metropolitan Hospital Center
  24. Mount Sinai Beth Israel
  25. Mount Sinai Brooklyn
  26. Mount St. Mary's Hospital
  27. New York Presbyterian – Lawrence Hospital
  28. Newark-Wayne Community Hospital
  29. North Shore University Hospital
  30. Northern Westchester Hospital
  31. NYU Langone Medical Center
  32. NYU Lutheran Medical Center
  33. Orleans Community Health – Medina Hospital
  34. Phelps Memorial Hospital Association
  35. Plainview Hospital
  36. Rochester General Hospital
  37. Samaritan Hospital
  38. Sisters Of Charity Hospital
  39. South Nassau Communities Hospital
  40. Southampton Hospital
  41. St. Barnabas Hospital Health System
  42. St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center
  43. St. Francis Hospital
  44. St. Joseph Hospital – Bethpage
  45. St. Peter's Hospital
  46. Staten Island University Hospital
  47. Stony Brook University Hospital
  48. Strong Memorial Hospital
  49. Syosset Hospital
  50. Upstate University Hospital
  51. Vassar Brothers Hospital
  52. Westchester Medical Center
  53. Westchester Medical Center – Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital
  54. White Plains Hospital Center
  55. Winthrop University Hospital
  56. Wyckoff Heights Medical Center