Frye Regional Medical Center recently received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease Silver Performance Achievement Award and a Bronze Performance Achievement Award from the American Stroke Association. The awards recognize Frye’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of cardiac and stroke care that effectively improves treatment of patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease and by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

Under Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation/weight management counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before they are discharged. Hospitals that receive the Get With The Guidelines-CAD Silver Performance Achievement Award have demonstrated for at least one year that 85 percent of its coronary patients (without contraindications) are discharged following the American Heart Association’s recommended treatment guidelines.

“The American Heart Association applauds Frye Regional Medical Center for its success in implementing the appropriate evidence-based care and protocols to reduce the number of recurrent events and deaths in cardiovascular disease patients,” said Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., National Chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center. “Frye has achieved a high level of performance in terms of implementing these life-prolonging treatments.”

“Frye is dedicated to making the cardiac care of our patients among the best in the country, and the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program is helping us accomplish that by making it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcomes of our cardiac patients,” said Karen Anderson, MSN, Director of Clinical Quality Improvement at Frye. “We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care.”

To receive the Get With The Guidelines –Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award, Frye consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the GWTG-Stroke program for 90 days. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol, reducing drugs, and smoking cessation. The 90-day evaluation period is the first in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to sustain the award:

“The American Stroke Association commends Frye Regional Medical Center for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., Vice-Chair of the national GWTG Steering Committee and Vice-Chair of the Neurology department and director of acute stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time,” said Frye’s Stroke Program Coordinator Stacey Coffey, RN.

Get With The Guidelines-Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how o manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second stroke.

“The time is right for Frye to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing Get With The Guidelines-Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” added Coffey.

Frye has the only comprehensive Heart Center and Primary Stroke Center in the Greater Hickory Metro Region. Frye has also been designated the “Best in the Charlotte Region for Overall Cardiac Care” by HealthGrades. For more information call 828-315-3391.

About Frye Regional Medical Center

For nearly a century, Frye Regional Medical Center has provided sophisticated medical services to the residents of Hickory and central western North Carolina. From its modest origins, Frye has evolved into a major medical facility offering specialized care for complex needs. From the latest in minimally invasive heart surgery to laser-guided cancer treatment, Frye provides advanced diagnostics, medicine and surgery through a convenient network of hospital campuses and outpatient locations.

From the start, Frye operated with one simple goal: to offer the best possible healthcare to people in our region. This guiding principle, instilled by the hospital’s namesake Dr. Glen R. Frye and his physician peers, is seen today as an unwavering drive for excellence among the medical staff, nurses, technicians and others who comprise the Frye family. They believe passionately in Frye’s commitment to care for the community and to do so by operating at the most exacting standards possible.

Perhaps this is why Frye has earned so many distinctions: Distinguished Hospital Award from J.D. Power and Associates (three years in a row), Hospital of Choice Award by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers, Best Hospital in Overall Quality and Image by National Research Corporation, and Best in Charlotte Region for Overall Cardiac Care by HealthGrades. However, the award we are most proud of is the Five Star Satisfaction rating given us by our patients!

Frye’s main campus in downtown Hickory includes a comprehensive heart center, accredited cancer center and bariatric surgery program, orthopedics, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, restorative care unit, neurosciences, a women’s center with level III nursery, a neonatal transport team, and pediatrics.  The nearby South Campus houses Frye’s psychiatric care program.

Frye has several extended campuses to serve families throughout the area, including:

·        FryeCare Outpatient Imaging Center with diagnostic imaging, cardiac rehabilitation, and sports and industrial rehabilitation

·        Tate Surgery Center

·        Two urgent care facilities

·        Unifour Pain Treatment Center

·        The Frye Wellness and Education Center housing an accredited Center For Diabetes Self-Management Care, perinatal education and community wellness classes

·        Outpatient Infusion Care

·        Vein and Wound Center

For employers, Frye provides industrial health services through Hart Industrial Clinic, and Oakwood Place, an outpatient substance abuse program.

Frye Regional Medical Center is accredited by the Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.  To learn more about the hospital, visit www.fryemedctr.com. For physician referral call 828-315-3391.