ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan Health has received the highest honor from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association as a leader in stroke care in 2022, according to national guidelines and research. This marks the 9^th consecutive year that the health system’s Comprehensive Stroke Center has earned the AHA’s Get With The Guidelines^® - Stroke GoldPlus award.

“This honor is the culmination of the tireless efforts of hundreds of individuals across multiple disciplines,” said Cemal Sozener, M.D., emergency physician at U-M Health and co-director of its Comprehensive Stroke Center.

“These providers consistently harmonize their efforts every day to deliver the highest level of therapy for stroke patients that entrust us with their care.”

In addition, U-M health also received the AHA’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus and Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll awards. Both awards are given to hospitals that reduce the amount of time between a patient’s arrival and treatment for stroke.

“These honors reflect the dedication of everyone in our center to delivering excellent patient care that meets the highest standards for stroke patients,” said Joseph Carrera, M.D., neurologist at U-M Health and co-director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center.

“Our patients are treated by a multidisciplinary group of providers who are specially trained to provide timely, cutting-edge stroke care to patients before, during and after a stroke.”

Stroke remains the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. Early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.

U-M is recognized by the Joint Commission as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, and team members from the stroke program helped to author the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s “Get With The Guidelines®" quality initiative. 

“Patients treated at our Comprehensive Stroke Center can rest assured that we will always endeavor to provide them with optimally timed, state-of-the-art technology and clinical care to give them the best possible functional outcome from stroke,” said Neeraj Chaudhary, M.D., lead neurointerventionalist at U-M Health.

Sparrow Health System and UM Health-West also received the Get with the Guidelines®-Stroke GoldPlus achievement award and Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus for performance during 2022. Sparrow and UM Health-West's diabetes programs have also been recognized with the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll for providing patients who might be at higher risk for complications the most up-to-date, evidence-based treatment when hospitalized due to stroke.

About Michigan Medicine: At Michigan Medicine, we advance health to serve Michigan and the world. We pursue excellence every day in our top-rated hospitals, clinics and home care operations, as well as educate the next generation of physicians, health professionals and scientists in our U-M Medical School. 

Michigan Medicine includes the top ranked U-M Medical School and the University of Michigan Health, which includes the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, University Hospital, the Frankel Cardiovascular Center, Rogel Cancer Center, U-M Health West and Sparrow Health System. The U-M Medical School is one of the nation's biomedical research powerhouses, with total research funding of more than $500 million. 

More information is available at www.michiganmedicine.org