Buffalo, NY – For the thirteenth consecutive year, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo’s Comprehensive Stroke Center has earned the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and Target: Honor Roll Elite Plus Award—the AHA/ASA’s top recognition for high quality stroke care based on nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
In honor of National Stroke Awareness Month, the hospital held an awards celebration and patient reunion on May 30. Stroke survivor Michael Denton was reunited with the Gowanda EMS providers who transported him to Mercy Hospital along with physicians, nurses and staff who cared for him during his hospital stay. 
“I feel like I made a full recovery thanks to everyone who took care of me from the first responders to my entire healthcare team at Mercy,” Michael said. “The speed of everyone’s reactions and their capabilities got me back on my feet.”
Neurosurgeon Dr. Rosalind Lai, who successfully removed the clot that caused the stroke, was grateful for the opportunity to visit Michael and witness his recovery.
“It was a wonderful celebration for everyone involved and a true collaboration.” Dr. Lai said. During her remarks, Dr. Lai also emphasized the importance of acting fast and seeking immediate care when a stroke occurs.
Mercy Hospital earned the Stroke Gold Plus Award by meeting and exceeding designated quality achievement measures for diagnosing and treating stroke patients over a 24-month period. To achieve the Target: Stroke Elite PlusSM award, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the window of time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital, diagnosis of ischemic stroke, and administration of a thrombolytic clot-busting medication. In addition, the hospital earned the Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll Award for its treatment of heart failure and stroke patients with type 2 diabetes.
In 2013, Mercy Hospital became the first hospital in Western New York and among the first in New York State to be named a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, for offering 24/7 emergency care with specially trained physicians and medical personnel, advanced imaging capabilities, and specially equipped operating facilities to diagnose and treat the most complex stroke cases. The hospital undergoes a rigorous review and survey process by The Joint Commission every two years and has consistently earned re-accreditation for five consecutive survey cycles, with its latest re-accreditation in 2022.
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers from a stroke every 40 seconds or dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
