News

June 18, 2018

Holy Family Hospital Earns Two Coveted Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program Awards

Holy Family Hospital and EMS Manager Christopher Wood have both earned coveted Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program Awards.

Through the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program, the Centers for Disease Control provides funding and support to state health departments so they can track and measure acute stroke care in order to improve quality of care. 

This month, during the Massachusetts Stroke Systems of Care Statewide Meeting and Annual Award Ceremony, a Coverdell and American Heart Association collaboration, Holy Family Hospital and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Manager Christopher Wood were honored.

Holy Family Hospital’s two full service campuses in Methuen and Haverhill are certified Primary Stroke Centers. Holy Family Hospital received the Coverdell Award for Documentation of Modified Rankin Scale at discharge for at least 85% of admitted stroke patients. 

The Modified Rankin Scale for Neurologic Disability measures the degree of disability in patients who have suffered a stroke. The scale is a widely used to assess functional outcomes for patients, and can be compared over time to measure how patients are recovering, and their degree of continued disability. 

“Our emergency departments and our stroke team are committed to the best possible outcomes for our patients,” said Holy Family Hospital President Craig Jesiolowski, FACHE. “A stroke is a true medical emergency. When patients arrive at our hospitals our team members know that seconds count. This award demonstrates the commitment and dedication of our team.”

EMS Manager Christopher Wood earned the Coverdell Award for outstanding leadership regarding stroke protocols, educational support to the community as well as medical providers, participation in the hospital’s stroke committee meetings and development of Holy Family Hospital’s stroke systems of care. 

Wood also played an important role in development of pre-hospital to hospital transitions of care, development of post-acute to EMS to hospital transitions of care; assistance in developing a patient hand-off of care process, assistance in developing a patient outcome feedback process, and active participation in quality improvement projects.

Wood was nominated for the award by Marc Simmons, MD, MBA, medical director of the Holy Family Hospital Haverhill Campus Emergency Department.

“Chris Wood’s work helped Holy Family Hospital’s new program, Straight to CT and  EMS to Boston, become a great success because of continued education, follow up, and discussions on improvement with EMS,” said Dr. Simmons. “Our Straight to CT program has enabled Holy Family to received patients in as little as five minutes, and receive CT, CTA and TPA in as short a time as 26 minutes before leaving to Boston Medical Center. Transport to Boston from Haverhill has been as short as 25 minutes.  The re-evaluation, education and feedback to EMS is all coordinated by Chris, and because of his due diligence, Holy Family Hospital is one of the top Emergency Departments for stroke by EMS in the Merrimack Valley.”

About Holy Family Hospital 
Holy Family Hospital is one of only 44 hospitals nationwide to earn the 2017 Top General Hospital Award from The Leapfrog Group, and is the only hospital in the Merrimack Valley and southern New Hampshire to earn this distinction for performance on national standards of quality and safety. Holy Family Hospital is a 385-bed acute-care hospital with three campuses: Holy Family Hospital – Methuen, Holy Family Hospital- Haverhill and Andover Surgery Center. Both full-service hospital locations provide comprehensive inpatient, outpatient and 24/7 emergency services to the greater Merrimack Valley and southern New Hampshire. Holy Family Hospital, the proud recipient of the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission and the Leapfrog Group “A” Hospital Safety Grade, is the first hospital in Massachusetts to earn Advanced Certification in Hip and Knee Replacement Surgery by The Joint Commission, and is Nationally Recognized by BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts as a Blue Distinction Center® Plus for excellence in hip and knee replacements and as a Blue Distinction Center® for Spine Surgery. Our Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center has been named a Center of Excellence six years in a row by Healogics. The hospital’s strengths include orthopedic care, cancer care, neurology/neurosurgery, general surgery, thoracic and pulmonary care, urologic surgery, ENT surgery, wound care and hyperbaric medicine, maternity care, and behavioral medicine.  Holy Family Hospital is part of Steward Health Care, a fully integrated national health care services organization committed to providing the highest quality of care in the communities where our patients live. Steward operates 36 community hospitals in ten states that employ approximately 37,000 people and regularly receives top awards for quality and safety. The Steward network includes more than 26 urgent care centers, 42 preferred skilled nursing facilities, substantial behavioral health services, over 7,300 beds under management, and more than 1.1 million covered lives through the company’s managed care and health insurance services.