The Department of Neurology serves an important role in recent accolades received by Stony Brook University Hospital. These awards reflect Stony Brook’s continuous commitment to quality care and improving clinical outcomes for the patients that our department serves and for the conditions we treat.
Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals™ for Stroke Care
When Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) was named by Healthgrades as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals™ for Stroke Care, it placed the hospital in the top 5 percent nationwide. SBUH is the ONLY hospital in New York State to earn this recognition nine years in a row (2016-2024). This speaks volumes about our Cerebrovascular and Comprehensive Stroke Center.
“I’m very proud that for the ninth year in a row, our hospital’s Cerebrovascular and Comprehensive Stroke Center continues to provide a level of stroke care few hospitals anywhere can match,” said Carol Gomes, MS, FACHE, CPHQ, Chief Executive Officer, Stony Brook University Hospital.
"From our mobile stroke units that provide stroke care on the scene before arriving at the hospital, to our advanced diagnostic and neuro-interventional treatment options and groundbreaking clinical trials not available anywhere else in the region, there is no better place to be for stroke care.”
In addition, Stony Brook University Hospital once again achieved Healthgrades’ Stroke Care Excellence Award™ (2016-2024) and Five-Star Distinction (the highest rating) for Treatment of Stroke (2015-2024); and Neurosciences Excellence Award™ (2016-2024).
These ratings are important because Healthgrades — an online source for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals — focuses its ratings solely on clinical outcomes data. These include risk-adjusted mortality and complications data to provide critical feedback for patients and hospitals alike.
Healthgrades evaluated patient mortality and complication rates for 31 of the most common conditions and procedures at nearly 4,500 hospitals across the country to identify the top-performing hospitals for specialty care. The 2024 Healthgrades analysis revealed that the variation in performance among hospitals continues to widen, making it increasingly important to seek care at top-rated programs.
Patients treated at hospitals receiving the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Stroke Care Award had, on average, a 41.6 percent lower mortality risk than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive the award*.
*Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2020 through 2022 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only. To learn more about how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access a patient-friendly overview of and why hospital quality matters, click click here.
Most advanced level of stroke recognition from American Heart Association
We're also proud of the the thirteenth consecutive years (2010-23) that Stony Brook University Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award.(Note: 2024 awards haven't been announced yet.) It's sister hospital, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, marked the tenth year (2014-2023) that it has received the Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award. The awards recognize Stony Brook’s dedication to improving outcomes for patients, meaning reduced readmissions and more healthy days at home.
The Stroke Gold Plus level is the most advanced level of recognition awarded by the American Heart Association, which includes the American Stroke Association, to help ensure that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines. This ultimately leads to more lives saved and reduced disability. Stroke — which occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts and part of the brain can’t get the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die — is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the US. Early recognition of the signs and symptoms of a stroke and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.
Our most recent Gold Plus achievement earned by Stony Brook University Hospital comes with the added distinctions of Target: Stroke℠ Elite Honor Roll for the sixth time; Target: Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll for the second time (2020, 2023); and Target: Type 2 Diabetes℠ Honor Roll for the third time (2021, 2022, 2023).
For more information about the clinical services offered by the Department of Neurology, click here.
For more information about the Stony Brook Cerebrovascular and Comprehensive Stroke Center, click here.
For more information about our Centers of Excellence, click on ALS, Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Tics and Tourette.