St. Mary’s Health Care Systems’ hospitals in Athens, Lavonia and Greensboro
have received a total of 11 American Heart Association quality achievement awards for demonstrating commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke, ultimately leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.

Heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 4 causes of death in the United States, respectively, according to the American Heart Association 2026 Statistical Update. Studies show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines.

For 2026, St. Mary’s three hospitals received these achievement awards:
St. Mary’s Hospital, Athens

• Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus (18 th year in a row)
• Target: Stroke Honor Roll
• Target: Type 2 Diabetes™ Honor Roll
• Get With The Guidelines® - Resuscitation Bronze Award
• Target: CPR

St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital, Lavonia

• Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus (4 th year in a row)
• Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite
• Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
• Get With The Guidelines® - Rural Stroke Gold (2 nd year in a row)
  St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital, Greensboro
• Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus (3 rd year in a row)
• Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

Get With The Guidelines ® puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest evidence- and research-based guidelines. As a participant in the Get With The Guidelines programs, St. Mary’s qualified for the awards by demonstrating how their organization has committed to improving quality care.

“Our entire St. Mary’s ministry is committed to improving care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and streamlining processes to ensure timely and proper care for heart attacks and strokes,” said Stonish Pierce, President and CEO, Trinity Health Georgia. “Get With The Guidelines programs make it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, which helps us ensure more people in a multicounty area of Northeast Georgia experience longer, healthier lives.”

“These awards show St. Mary’s commitment to caring for those in their community who need cardiovascular care,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee. “By following the American Heart Association’s quality improvement protocols, St. Mary’s can help realize our shared vision of improved patient outcomes, fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates — a win for health care systems, families and communities.” 

In addition to its American Heart Association recognitions, St. Mary’s Hospital meets specific scientific guidelines as a Joint Commission-certified Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. Thrombectomy-capable stroke centers are available to perform a cerebral thrombectomy 24/7/365, which is an endovascular procedure that removes large vessel blood clots that can cause some of the most severe ischemic strokes.

St. Mary’s Hospital also is accredited as a Chest Pain Center with Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention by the American College of Cardiology.

To further enhance community access to heart and vascular care that can save and enhance lives, St. Mary’s recently began construction of the $35 million Center for Heart, Vascular and Neurosciences in Athens and the $45.6 million Good Samaritan Pavilion in Greensboro. In particular, the CHVN will enhance St. Mary’s ability to monitor and treat the conditions that cause deadly hemorrhagic strokes, such as aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations.