University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center Nationally Recognized for Excellence in Stroke Care and Rural Health

University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center, a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System, has received the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Rural Recognition Silver Award, recognizing the hospital's commitment to delivering high-quality, evidence-based stroke care and improving outcomes for patients across Southern Maryland.

UM Charles Regional also earned the American Heart Association's Target: Stroke Honor Roll and Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll distinctions for reducing treatment times for eligible stroke patients and providing evidence-based care for stroke patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death and a major cause of disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. Rapid recognition and treatment are critical to improving survival, reducing disability and supporting recovery.

The Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke program helps hospitals align care with the latest research-based treatment recommendations and implement proven protocols that improve patient outcomes.

"University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center is committed to providing exceptional stroke care by adhering to the latest evidence-based treatment guidelines," said Albert Zanger, UM Charles Regional's President and Chief Administrative Officer.

"These recognitions reflect the dedication of our physicians, nurses, EMS partners and clinical teams who work every day to ensure patients receive timely, high-quality care. We are especially proud to be recognized for both stroke care excellence and our commitment to serving rural communities across Southern Maryland."

The Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award recognizes hospitals that demonstrate sustained success in delivering guideline-directed stroke care while also providing education and support to help patients manage recovery and long-term health after discharge.

"We are proud to recognize University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center for its commitment to caring for people experiencing stroke," said Steven Messe, MD, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Stroke System of Care Advisory Group. "Participation in Get With The Guidelines is associated with improved patient outcomes, including greater likelihood of being discharged home, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates."

UM Charles Regional's Stroke Rural Recognition Silver Award highlights efforts to address healthcare challenges in rural communities, where residents often experience higher rates of heart disease and stroke mortality.

"As a hospital serving a largely rural community, we face challenges such as extended transportation times and limited staffing resources," said Stephen Smith, MD, UM Charles Regional's Chief Medical Officer. "We have made it a priority to ensure those challenges never compromise the standard of care our stroke patients receive."
The Rural Recognition Award honors hospitals that excel in key areas of acute stroke care, including timely thrombolytic therapy, efficient transfers, brain imaging, specialist consultation and EMS communication.

The hospital's Target: Stroke Honor Roll designation recognizes success in reducing the time between patient arrival and treatment, while the Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll highlights its commitment to providing the latest evidence-based care for stroke patients living with Type 2 diabetes.

About University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center

UM CRMC is a member of the University of Maryland Medical System and serves as a regional, not-for-profit, integrated health system serving Charles County and the surrounding areas of Southern Maryland. Our mission is to provide excellent patient care as measured by the population's health, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost effectiveness. UM Charles Regional Medical Center will remain the premier place to receive care and the premier place to provide care. For more information, visit https://www.UMCharlesRegional.org.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high-quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state's future healthcare professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System's anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit https://www.umms.org.

About Get With The Guidelines®

Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Designed to improve survival and recovery, the program has impacted more than 18 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.