The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze award recognizes effortsto address the unique health needs of rural communities
Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Medical Center is committed to providing exceptional care for stroke patients in Bartlesville and surrounding areas. For its efforts to optimize stroke care and reduce gaps in rural health outcomes, Jane Phillips Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze award.
Stroke is the No. 4 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S, according to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying the brain is blocked by a clot or ruptures, preventing blood and oxygen from reaching brain tissue. When this happens, brain cells begin to die. Early detection and rapid treatment are critical to improving survival, minimizing disability and supporting faster recovery.
The American Heart Association 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 Jane Phillips Medical Center is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Bartlesville and surrounding areas who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Tanner Holt, President of Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Medical Center “Rural communities like Bartlesville deserve high-quality stroke care. I'm proud of our team’s commitment to stroke care excellence and this achievement.”
This recognition goes to hospitals for their commitment to acute stroke care excellence, demonstrated through performance on guideline-directed measures including 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 northeastern Oklahoma 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 on the Association’s advisory on rural health. “Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Medical Center has advanced the important work of improving care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”
