Stroke Outcomes

Summa Health System – Akron Campus is the first hospital in the greater Akron region to be awarded the Comprehensive Stroke Center certification from The Joint Commission, in collaboration with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA). This certification means Summa Health meets the highest level of certification for hospitals with specific abilities to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases.

The Joint Commission recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care. Achievement of certification signifies that Summa Health’s services provide the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes. This certification shows that we meet the rigorous standards for performing mechanical endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), a specialized surgical procedure used to remove a blood clot from the brain during an ischemic stroke. Summa Health- Akron Campus is the first hospital in Ohio to be awarded this certification.

Also, the Summa Health Stroke Care Center has been nationally recognized for earning the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. Summa is the only hospital in the Akron area to have received the American Stroke Association Get with the Guidelines Gold Plus Award consecutively since 2010. The award recognizes our commitment and success in implementing quality stroke care, according to evidence-based guidelines.

In addition, since 2016 we also have been awarded for treating our patients faster than national benchmarks, achieving maximum recognition as Honor Roll Elite Plus

Summa Health averaged 38-minute treatment times for administering clot busting medication in 2024, 22 minutes faster than the national benchmark of 60 minutes. That’s a savings of more than 40 million brain cells per patient. In addition, we met the national goal of within 60 minutes 98.4% of the time. Furthermore, we met the national goal of 45 minutes 85.7% of the time. We also exceeded the newest, very stringent goal of administering clot buster medication less than 30 minutes, 60.5% of the time.

Since 2021, Summa has also maintained the American Heart Association Advanced Therapy Award for timely arrival to device deployment for patients receiving catheter retrieval of clots in the brain causing stroke. Learn more about our specific stroke outcomes.