Sunset Park

NYU Lutheran wins Gold Seal from Joint Commission

November 16, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Members of the NYU Lutheran stroke treatment team. Photo courtesy of NYU Lutheran
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NYU Lutheran Medical Center, which has a comprehensive stroke treatment facility, has received recognition from two nationwide medical groups.

The hospital, located at 150 55th St. in Sunset Park, earned a Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission and a Heart-Check Mark from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

The Gold Seal of Approval and the Heart-Check Mark represent symbols of quality from their respective organizations. NYU Lutheran was also granted advanced certification for its stroke treatment program. 

“NYU Lutheran has thoroughly demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of stroke patients through its advanced certification for comprehensive stroke centers,” said Dr. Mark R. Chassin, president and CEO of The Joint Commission. 

A rigorous on-site review was completed at NYU Lutheran Medical Center in June, when Joint Commission experts evaluated hospital procedures.

The Joint Commission, which was founded in 1951, is a nonprofit group composed of medical professionals who evaluate health care organizations. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the U.S, including hospitals and health care organizations that provide ambulatory and office-based surgery, home care and nursing home services.

The designation of advanced certification was created in 2012 and is awarded by The Joint Commission for a two-year period. 

To be eligible for the certification, hospitals must demonstrate compliance with stroke-related standards as a primary stroke center and meet additional requirements.

“We are thrilled about being awarded advanced certification for comprehensive stroke centers,” said Dr. Salman Azhar, senior vice president and chairman of neurology and rehabilitation medicine at NYU Lutheran. “This certification recognizes that NYU Lutheran delivers the highest level of care available for stroke patients.”

Azhar is also the director of the comprehensive stroke team at NYU Lutheran.

“The certification provides us with the framework to create a culture of excellence,” said Claudia Caine, president and chief operating officer of NYU Lutheran Medical Center. 

NYU Lutheran stands ready to handle stroke cases, according to hospital officials, who said team of board-certified neurologists, emergency medicine doctors, stroke interventionalists and neurosurgeons are available around the clock.

The NYU Lutheran neurointerventional team, led by Dr. Jeffrey Farkas, director of interventional neuroradiology at NYU Lutheran, uses three-dimensional X-ray imaging and catheterization technology to rapidly restore blood flow to a stroke patient’s brain, reducing long-term effects and shortening recovery time. 

“The ability to reverse and limit damage from a stroke is directly related to how fast and how well we are able to remove a clot from the blocked blood vessel in the brain, and we are able to do that at NYU Lutheran with great success,” Farkas said.

“At NYU Lutheran, it only takes one phone call to set the comprehensive stroke team in motion,” said Dr. John Miller, chief of neurosurgery at NYU Lutheran.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and adult disability in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

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