Chronic Disease Prevention Program: Wisconsin Stroke Coalition

The mission of the Wisconsin Stroke Coalition (WSC) is to reduce the burden of stroke, improve patient outcomes, and support a healthy population. The coalition is made up of representatives from:

• Community-based organizations.
• EMS (emergency medical services).
• Hospitals.
• Professional organizations.
• Academic institutions.
• Public health.
• Industry partners.

The Wisconsin Stroke Coalition works to ensure that all patients in Wisconsin receive timely, high-quality acute stroke care. It doesn’t matter how old they are or where they live, everyone benefits from faster treatment. The coalition:

• Provides clinical presentations.
• Reviews performance improvement data.
• Discusses opportunities to collaborate on shared initiatives across the continuum of care.

To support its mission, the group works on system-level and environmental changes to:

• Promote stroke systems of care.
• Reinforce evidence-based practices and standards to improve stroke transitions of care.
• Communicate progress in implementing stroke systems of care.
• Plan for sustainable, statewide stroke quality improvement.

In collaboration with a steering committee, the Wisconsin Stroke Coalition is directed by two chairs:

Sign up for email updates on the coalition

Hospital capacity to treat strokes

In 2014, the Wisconsin Stroke Coalition surveyed hospitals across the state to better understand their ability to offer stroke care. As of October 2014, 30% of Wisconsin’s non-specialty hospitals were nationally certified to provide advanced stroke care. In 2015, however, a new basic level of stroke care became available through The Joint Commission. The new certification is called acute stroke ready hospital (ASRH).

Based on the published guidelines for ASRH, the Wisconsin Stroke Coalition asked 88 non-stroke-certified hospitals to self-report the status of starting ASRH elements. Each hospital identified whether its guidelines were in place currently or would be within six months. They stated if it could be developed with assistance, or wouldn’t be implemented. Sixty percent of hospitals responded to the survey.

Although few hospitals had every step in place, the majority were open to, or had already begun, ASRH recommendations. According to this self-reported data, non-specialty, non-stroke-certified hospitals in Wisconsin appear well-positioned to follow ASRH guidelines.

National recommendations from the Brain Attack Coalition suggest that EMS transport suspected stroke patients to the nearest stroke-certified facility. Learn more on the Formation and function of acute stroke-ready hospitals within a stroke system of care recommendations from the brain attack coalition.

Our partners

These groups have joined stroke initiatives through the Wisconsin Stroke Coalition:

• American Heart Association
• American Stroke Association
• Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program—CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Genentech
• Medtronic—Minimally Invasive Therapies
• MetaStar
• Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC)
• Wisconsin EMS Association
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services
• Wisconsin Hospital Association
• Wisconsin Office of Rural Health

Contact us

Wisconsin Coverdell Stroke Program
dhscoverdellstroke@dhs.wisconsin.gov