(October 24, 2023) Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) has again achieved national recognition by being named by Healthgrades® as one of America's 100 Best Hospitals for Stroke Care, placing it 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).
“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’s Stroke Care Excellence Award™ (2016-2024) and Five-Star Distinction (the highest rating) for Treatment of Stroke (2015-2024); Neurosciences Excellence Award™ (2016-2024); Cranial Neurosurgery Excellence Award and Five-Star Distinction (the highest rating) for Cranial Neurosurgery (2020-2024).
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% 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 here.
Leading the Field
Stony Brook University Hospital has a history of continuously raising the bar in stroke treatment and care:
- Recognized by Healthgrades for top-rated stroke care for the following clinical achievements:
- America’s Best for Stroke Treatment and Care (2016-2024) – the only hospital in New York State to achieve this for nine years in a row
- The only hospital in New York State to achieve a Five-Star Distinction (highest rating) for Treatment of Stroke for 10 years in a row (2015-2024)
- The only hospital in New York State to achieve the Neurosciences Excellence Award™ 9 years in a row (2016-2024)
- The only hospital in New York State to be named among the Top 5% in the Nation for Cranial Neurosurgery for 3 years in a row (2022-2024)
- One of only two hospitals in New York State to receive the Healthgrades Cranial Neurosurgery Excellence Award™ for 5 years in a row (2020-2024)
- Five-Star Distinction (highest rating) Cranial Neurosurgery for 5 years in a row (2020-2024)
- Suffolk County’s first Joint Commission (TJC)-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center (2018 and continuously recertified 2020-current) — offering endovascular treatment for stroke, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Recipient of Gold Plus Achievement Award from the American Stroke Association for the "Get with the Guidelines" Stroke Program for 13 consecutive years (2010 – current) with added distinctions of "Target: Stroke Honor Roll" (2014, 2017), "Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite" (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023),"Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus" (2017, 2021, 2022), inaugural recipient of "Target: Stroke Advanced Therapy Honor Roll" (2020, 2023), and recipient of "Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll" (2021, 2022, 2023)
- Long Island's first and only Mobile Stroke Unit Program, designed to provide specialized, life-saving care to people within the critical moments of stroke before they even get to the hospital.
- Suffolk County's only Adult and Pediatric Level 1 Trauma Center (the highest level as verified by the American College of Surgeons (ACS)
- First institution in the country to treat cerebral aneurysm with the Pipeline™ Flex Embolization device in the setting of the COCOA and PUFS clinical research trials
- First institution on Long Island to utilize Onyx® for arteriovenous malformations and aneurysms
- First institution on Long Island to utilize the Penumbra System® for clot removal in acute ischemic stroke
- First to offer intracranial stroke treatment with novel temporary endovascular bypass technology
Learn more about the Stony Brook Cerebrovascular and Comprehensive Stroke Center here.