Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital certified as Comprehensive Stroke Center

Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is celebrating a new distinction in the medical field after earning the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers.

The certification represents a high level of quality, elevating Santa Barbara’s hospital with an elite group of health care organizations focused on highly-specialized stroke care.

“Earning the advanced certification for comprehensive stroke has been a top goal at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for several years. The skill, compassion and hard work of our physicians, nurses, technologists and staff have made this possible,” said Ron Werft, President and CEO of Cottage Health.

Stoke-related standard compliancy along with staff education, competence and the ability to care for complex stroke patients are all key to the recognition. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.

“I would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Philip Delio, Medical Director and Chief of Staff for Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, for his commitment and leadership in this endeavor,” Werft said.

Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

For more information about the Stroke Center at Cottage Health, click here.