Certifications

Stroke Care

In the spring of 2006, Middlesex Hospital became the third Connecticut hospital to receive the status of Primary Stroke Care Center from the Join Commission’s Disease Specific Care Certification Program.

The Joint Commission collaborated with the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association to develop standard practices and outcome measurements based on the Brain Attack Coalition’s evidence based guidelines. These practice guidelines would ensure that certified hospitals would give current, state-of-the-art stroke care to their patients.

A very important element of this program is the education of the community. People need to know the symptoms of a stroke as well as the importance of seeking immediate medical care. This is because there is a narrow window (3 hours) of opportunity from the onset of symptoms to diagnose a stroke in order to be eligible to receive antithrombotic agents.

Middlesex Hospital’s emergency physicians and the community’s emergency medical service providers are in contact with each other whenever there is an emergency call for a patient with stroke-like symptoms. This communication allows for the activation of a system that alerts specific physicians and departments that a possible stroke patient will be arriving shortly. This allows the care givers to prepare in advance so they can diagnose and treat the patient in a timely manner.

The State of Connecticut Department of Public Health has also developed a stroke certification program and is accepting application for certification as of January 1, 2008. Middlesex Hospital has applied for certification in this program.

Bariatric Surgery

The weight-loss surgery (Bariatric) patients at Middlesex Hospital receive care form a program that has been in effect since 2004. This program received certification as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in September, 2005. The program has also been recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Associates, CIGNA and HealthNet.

Meeting these organization’s standards support Middlesex Hospital’s commitment to providing exceptional care for its bariatric surgical patients.