Porter Regional Hospital’s stroke care services has landed national honors.

The Valparaiso hospital recently was presented the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Silver Quality Achievement Award, which recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive treatment, based on nationally recognized, research guidelines developed from the latest scientific evidence.

Porter Regional Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period, hospital officials said in a statement. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.

“Our entire team is focused on improving the quality of care for our stroke patients,” said Sean Dardeau, CEO of Porter Health Care System and the provider’s Northwest Indiana market. “The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative is one set of tools that help us ensure we are providing evidence-based clinical guidelines.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the nation. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year, the organizations said.

Porter Health Care System includes Porter Regional Hospital and more than 20 outpatient sites located throughout the Northwest Indiana. It is affiliated with Community Health Systems of Franklin, Tenn.

Community Health Systems operates 118 hospitals across 20 states, including several in Indiana.