FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kittitas Valley Healthcare awarded for efforts to improve rural stroke care
The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Recognition Gold award recognizes efforts to address the unique health needs of rural communities
ELLENSBURG, WA, July 29, 2025 — People who live in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than urban counterparts and have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30% increased risk for stroke mortality — a gap that has grown over the past two decades. , Kittitas Valley Healthcare is committed to changing that.
For efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural health care outcome disparities, Kittitas Valley Healthcare has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Recognition Gold award.
The American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, recognizes the importance of health care services provided to people living in rural areas by rural hospitals that play a vital role in initiation of timely evidence-based care. For that reason, all rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines- Stroke are eligible to receive award recognition based on a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics.
“We are proud that our team at Kittitas Valley Healthcare is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Kittitas County who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Deb Callins, KVH Chief Nursing Officer. “As a hospital in a rural community, we deal with unique challenges, such as extended interfacility transportation times, and limited staffing resources. We’ve made it a goal to make sure those hurdles do not affect the standard of care our stoke patients receive.
“Rural communities deserve high quality stroke care. I’m proud of our team for their commitment to stroke care excellence and this achievement. “The award recognizes hospitals for their efforts toward acute stroke care excellence demonstrated by composite score compliance to guideline-directed care for intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely hospital inter-facility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.
“Patients and health care professionals in Kittitas County face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, co-author on the American Heart Association’s presidential advisory on rural health. Kittitas Valley Healthcare has furthered this important work to improve care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”
About Kittitas Valley Healthcare:
Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) proudly serves Kittitas County and surrounding rural communities as the region’s only healthcare system. Governed by a locally elected Board of Commissioners, KVH operates 25 acute care, critical care, and birthing beds, providing 24/7 emergency services and a full range of inpatient and outpatient care. Through multiple clinics and specialty services, KVH offers family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral health, cardiology, dermatology, ENT, orthopedics, neurology, general and vascular surgery, and urgent care. Additional services include home health, hospice, wound care, workplace health, and rehabilitation therapy. Committed to keeping high-quality care local, KVH strives to improve access and enhance the health and well-being of the communities it serves.
About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 14 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.
[1] American Heart Association. American Heart Association issues call to action for addressing inequities in rural health. February 10, 2020. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/american-heart-association-issues-call-to-action-for-addressing-inequities-in-rural-health; American Heart Association. Public Health AmeriCorps to address health inequity in rural communities. April 6, 2022. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/public-health-americorps-to-address-health-inequity-in-rural-communities.
[2] Harrington R, et al. Call to Action: Rural Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. Circulation. 2020;141:e615–e644.