BALTIMORE — The University of Maryland Medical Center has again been recognized among 123 elite stroke centers in the United States, the medical provider announced Tuesday.
The medical center was awarded the Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, marking it as one of an “elite group of health care organizations focused on highly-specialized stroke care,” UMMC said in a statement. Eligible hospitals must demonstration a level of compliance with stroke-related standards as a Primary Stroke Center. Additional requirements include achieving standards in imaging capabilities, 24/7 availabilities for specialized treatments, and staff have access to unique education and competency care for complex stroke patients.
Strokes are the fifth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the country, UMMC said, based on data from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. With roughly 795,000 people suffering from new or recurrent strokes each year, meaning a person suffers a stroke roughly every 40 seconds, and someone dies from a stroke roughly every four minutes.
“It is a privilege to take care of the most critically ill stroke patients in Maryland,” says Marcella Wozniak, MD, associate professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and medical director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at UMMC. “We are proud to be among those leading the way to advance stroke treatment and care.”
