FMH Earns American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Gold Recognition Award
Fairfield Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Gold Recognition Award, recognizing the hospital's commitment to delivering high-quality, evidence-based stroke care to patients in rural communities.
People living in rural communities face significant health disparities. According to the American Heart Association, rural residents live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts, have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30% greater risk of dying from a stroke. Fairfield Memorial Hospital is committed to helping change those outcomes by ensuring patients receive timely, guideline-directed stroke care close to home.
Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and a leading cause of long-term disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted by either a blood clot or a ruptured blood vessel, depriving brain tissue of oxygen. Rapid recognition and treatment are essential to improving survival, reducing disability, and increasing the likelihood of recovery.
The American Heart Association established the Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Recognition program to honor rural hospitals that consistently provide high-quality stroke care based on nationally recognized clinical guidelines. Award recipients demonstrate excellence in critical performance measures including timely stroke evaluation, brain imaging, emergency medical services communication, dysphagia screening, intravenous thrombolytic therapy when appropriate, stroke specialist consultation, documentation of symptom onset, and efficient transfer protocols when advanced care is needed.
"We are honored to receive the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Gold Recognition Award," said Andy Flemer, CEO of Fairfield Memorial Hospital. "Our dedicated physicians, nurses, emergency department staff, radiology team, laboratory professionals and support staff work together every day to ensure our patients receive timely, evidence-based stroke care. As a rural hospital, we understand the unique challenges our community faces, including longer transportation times to specialized care. We remain committed to providing the highest standard of stroke care so our patients have the best possible opportunity for recovery and improved outcomes."
The recognition reflects Fairfield Memorial Hospital's ongoing commitment to clinical excellence and continuous quality improvement, ensuring patients throughout southeastern Illinois have access to lifesaving stroke care when every minute matters.
"Patients and health care professionals in rural communities face unique health care challenges and opportunities," said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee and co-author of the Association's advisory on rural health. "Fairfield Memorial Hospital has advanced the important work of improving care for all Americans, regardless of where they live."
Fairfield Memorial Hospital continues to invest in evidence-based practices, staff education, and collaborative care initiatives to improve outcomes for patients experiencing stroke and other medical emergencies. This national recognition reinforces the hospital's mission of providing exceptional health care close to home.
People living in rural communities face significant health disparities. According to the American Heart Association, rural residents live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts, have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30% greater risk of dying from a stroke. Fairfield Memorial Hospital is committed to helping change those outcomes by ensuring patients receive timely, guideline-directed stroke care close to home.Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and a leading cause of long-term disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted by either a blood clot or a ruptured blood vessel, depriving brain tissue of oxygen. Rapid recognition and treatment are essential to improving survival, reducing disability, and increasing the likelihood of recovery.
The American Heart Association established the Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Recognition program to honor rural hospitals that consistently provide high-quality stroke care based on nationally recognized clinical guidelines. Award recipients demonstrate excellence in critical performance measures including timely stroke evaluation, brain imaging, emergency medical services communication, dysphagia screening, intravenous thrombolytic therapy when appropriate, stroke specialist consultation, documentation of symptom onset, and efficient transfer protocols when advanced care is needed.
"We are honored to receive the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Gold Recognition Award," said Andy Flemer, CEO of Fairfield Memorial Hospital. "Our dedicated physicians, nurses, emergency department staff, radiology team, laboratory professionals and support staff work together every day to ensure our patients receive timely, evidence-based stroke care. As a rural hospital, we understand the unique challenges our community faces, including longer transportation times to specialized care. We remain committed to providing the highest standard of stroke care so our patients have the best possible opportunity for recovery and improved outcomes."
The recognition reflects Fairfield Memorial Hospital's ongoing commitment to clinical excellence and continuous quality improvement, ensuring patients throughout southeastern Illinois have access to lifesaving stroke care when every minute matters.
"Patients and health care professionals in rural communities face unique health care challenges and opportunities," said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee and co-author of the Association's advisory on rural health. "Fairfield Memorial Hospital has advanced the important work of improving care for all Americans, regardless of where they live."
Fairfield Memorial Hospital continues to invest in evidence-based practices, staff education, and collaborative care initiatives to improve outcomes for patients experiencing stroke and other medical emergencies. This national recognition reinforces the hospital's mission of providing exceptional health care close to home.