ELIZABETHTOWN — The staff at the Essex Center here just won a national award for blood pressure control for residents.
The American Heart Association bestowed the Gold Plus award for “exemplary efforts in blood pressure control, as well as stroke risk reduction.”
The Essex Center, formerly Horace Nye Nursing Home, participates in the Target: BP national program sponsored by the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association. The program is geared toward hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare institutions.
“I am so proud of our clinical nursing, rehab and nutritional teams here at Essex Center,” said Essex Center Administrator Tara Vilardo in a release. “They know that heart health is of the upmost most importance when it comes to monitoring our residents’ cardiac health. From carefully monitoring the foods they eat, having our residents constantly move and exercise in therapy to our nurses monitoring their overall health, these are areas I’m very delighted with.”
The American Heart Association is now also looking at healthcare institutions for their work in Type 2 Diabetes control around cardiovascular disease risk factors, hypertension and cholesterol management.
The company that runs the 100-bed Elizabethtown skilled nursing facility, Centers Health Care, is the only skilled nursing-care system in New York state to earn American Heart Association recognition in Gold-Plus and Gold standing in the Target: BP program, Director of Corporate Communications Jeffrey Jacomowitz said in the release.
“This recognition underscores Centers Health Care’s commitment to delivering high-quality, science-driven care to its residents,” he said. “A big congratulations to the team at Essex Center.”
Target: BP is a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association, and acknowledges healthcare providers who demonstrate dedication to following evidence-based guidelines in cardiovascular care.