Saint Mary's Hospital Receives Joint Commission Re-Certification

WATERBURY, Conn. (May 5, 2021) Saint Mary’s Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Primary Stroke Certification.

Saint Mary’s Hospital underwent a rigorous review in March 2021. During the visit, a Joint Commission reviewer evaluated compliance with related certification standards including program management, supporting self-management and delivering and facilitating clinical care. Joint Commission standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers measurement experts and patients. The reviewers also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

Advanced Primary Stroke Certification recognizes health care organizations committed to fostering continuous quality improvement in patient safety and quality of care,” says Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, chief operating officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations, and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commission. “We commend Saint Mary’s Hospital for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical processes and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for stroke patients.”

“We congratulate Saint Mary’s Hospital for this outstanding achievement,” says Nancy Brown, chief executive officer, the American Stroke Association. “This certification reflects its commitment to providing the highest quality of care for stroke patients.”

“Saint Mary’s Hospital is pleased to once again receive advanced certification from The Joint Commission and the American Stroke Association,” said Dr. Katherine Kedzierski, Stroke Program Medical Director at Saint Mary’s Hospital. “The certification provides us with the opportunity to highlight the exceptional stroke care we provide as well as to continually strive to advance our care even further.”

Deborah Cram, RN MSN, ACM Saint Mary’s Hospital Stroke Coordinator said, “This re-certification is a concrete demonstration of Saint Mary’s ongoing commitment to providing exceptional care in the identification, management and prevention of stroke.”

Established in 2003, Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers is awarded for a two-year period to Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals. The certification was derived from the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers” (JAMA, 2000) and the “Revised and Updated Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers” (Stroke, 2011).

Stroke is the number four cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

For more information, please visit The Joint Commission website and TrinityHealthOfNE.org.

About Saint Mary’s Hospital

Saint Mary’s Hospital is a Catholic, not-for-profit, acute care, community teaching hospital that has served Greater Waterbury since 1909. In 2016, Saint Mary’s Hospital became part of Trinity Health Of New England, an integrated health care delivery system that is a member of Trinity Health, Livonia, Michigan, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation serving communities in 22 states. Licensed for 347 beds, Saint Mary’s is designated as a Level II Trauma Center, offers award-winning cardiac and stroke care and houses the region’s only pediatric emergency care unit. As the leading provider of surgical services in Greater Waterbury, Saint Mary’s was the first to introduce the daVinci® Robotic Surgery System. The hospital’s satellites and affiliates extend from Waterbury to Wolcott, Cheshire, Naugatuck, Southbury, Prospect and Watertown. Visit stmh.org for more information and follow us on Facebook at SaintMarysHospitalCT, Instagram and Twitter at @SaintMarysCT.