Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar has received several awards from the American Heart Association for its stroke care programs in 2025.
The hospital was recognized with the Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Silver Plus quality achievement award. This award highlights that CMH provides stroke patients with treatments that follow research-based guidelines, which have been shown to improve survival rates and reduce disability.
Stroke remains a significant health concern, ranking as the fifth leading cause of death and a major contributor to disability across the United States. Strokes occur when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked or interrupted, causing brain cells to die due to lack of oxygen and nutrients.
Early detection and treatment are important for improving outcomes in stroke patients. The Get With The Guidelines – Stroke program helps hospitals improve their processes for treating strokes and includes patient education on managing recovery at home.
CMH also earned two additional recognitions within the Stroke Silver Plus category. The Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite℠ award was given because CMH reduced the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and receiving clot-dissolving medication. In addition, CMH received the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award for providing up-to-date care for hospitalized patients with Type 2 diabetes, who may face higher risks of complications during a stroke.
In rural health care, CMH was honored with the Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Rural Recognition Gold award. This follows previous recognition with a Silver award in 2024 and Bronze in 2023. The gold-level award reflects efforts to close gaps in health outcomes between rural and urban populations, where residents face higher risks related to heart disease and stroke mortality.
“The award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward excellence in acute stroke care. CMH showed composite score compliance with guideline-directed care for intravenous thrombolytic therapy (medicine to dissolve blood clots), timely hospital inter-facility transfer, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.”
According to national data, people living in rural areas generally have shorter life expectancies compared to those living in cities and experience higher rates of heart disease and stroke mortality.
CMH continues its commitment to advancing high-quality acute stroke care for its community.
