Saint Alphonsus Health System awarded national recognition for commitment to excellence in stroke care

The American Heart Association presents the Get With The Guidelines^® awards for proven dedication to evidence-based, life-saving care in Boise and Nampa

Saint Alphonsus Health System has been awarded two prestigious American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke awards, demonstrating its commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the timely treatment of stroke, ultimately leading to more lives saved, reduced disability, faster recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.

This year, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, a Comprehensive Stroke Center, was awarded the Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite,  Advanced Therapy and Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll. Saint Alphonsus Medical Center - Nampa, a Primary Plus Stroke Center, was also awarded the Get With The Guidelines® - Silver Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

Get With The Guidelines is a system of evidence-based quality improvement programs developed by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest evidence- and research-based guidelines. As a participant in the Get With The Guidelines programs, Saint Alphonsus qualified for the awards by exemplifying the organization’s dedication to improving quality care.

The participation in this program, which is a national repository for benchmarking best practice and quality measures, is a conscious effort by Saint Alphonsus to ensure the health system is providing stroke care at the highest possible quality.

“Our commitment to reviewing and benchmarking this data keeps us accountable to best practices and ensures we continually review, analyze and enhance our clinical care for the acute stroke patient, providing high-quality complex care for our patients and community,” said Claire Jones, Saint Alphonsus Health System Regional Director of the Neuroscience Service Line.

Each year, participating hospitals qualify for the award by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality stroke care. In addition to following clinical treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also provide education to help people manage their recovery and ongoing health at home.

The specific award subcategories including status as a target stroke, honor roll advanced therapy, and diabetes honor roll institution recognize, among other metrics, a hospital’s ability to:
•    Target: Stroke Honor Roll: Reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with thrombolytic therapy.
•    Target: Stroke Honor Roll Advanced Therapy: Reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment to remove the clot causing the stroke.
•    Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll: Ensure patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk of complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke. 

“We are proud to recognize Saint Alphonsus Health System for its commitment to caring for people experiencing stroke,” said Steven Messe, M.D., volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. “Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, including greater likelihood of being discharged home, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates — a meaningful benefit for health care systems, families and communities.”

Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying the brain is blocked by a clot or ruptures, preventing blood and oxygen from reaching brain tissue. When this happens, brain cells begin to die. Early detection and rapid treatment are critical to improving survival, minimizing disability, and supporting faster recovery.

Learn more about Saint Alphonsus Neurosciences by visiting Advanced Neuroscience Services for Better Health.