(Audubon) People who live in rural communities live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts and have a 40% higher likelihood of developing heart disease and face a 30% increased risk for stroke mortality, according to the American Heart Association’s presidential advisory on rural health. Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics is committed to changing that.
According to the press release, for its efforts to optimize stroke care and reduce gaps in rural health outcomes, Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Rural Recognition Silver award.
Stroke is the No. 4 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S, according to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying the brain is blocked by a clot or ruptures, preventing blood and oxygen from reaching brain tissue. When this happens, brain cells begin to die. Early detection and rapid treatment are critical to improving survival, minimizing disability, and supporting faster recovery.
The American Heart Association recognizes the importance of health care services provided to people living in rural areas by rural hospitals that play a vital role in initiating timely, evidence-based care. For that reason, all rural hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines- Stroke are eligible to receive award recognition based on a unique methodology focused on early acute stroke performance metrics.
“We are proud that our team at Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people in Audubon County who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival,” said Cassey Neumann, RN, Chief Nursing Officer of ACMH. “As a hospital in a rural community, we face challenges such as extended interfacility transportation times and limited staffing resources. We have made it a priority to ensure those challenges never compromise the standard of care our stroke patients receive. Rural communities deserve high-quality stroke care. I'm proud of our team’s commitment to stroke care excellence and this achievement.”
This recognition goes to hospitals for their commitment to acute stroke care excellence, demonstrated through performance on guideline-directed measures including intravenous thrombolytic therapy, timely hospital inter-facility transfer, dysphagia screening, symptom timeline and deficit assessment documentation, emergency medical services communication, brain imaging and stroke expert consultation.
“Patients and health care professionals in Audubon County face unique health care challenges and opportunities,” said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee and co-author on the Association’s advisory on rural health. “Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics has advanced the important work of improving care for all Americans, regardless of where they live.”
Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics: Audubon County Memorial Hospital & Clinics is a 17-bed Critical Access Hospital serving Audubon County and the surrounding areas, with the mission of “Excellence with Quality and Compassion to Those We Serve.”
Our services include emergency services, acute care, skilled nursing services, laboratory, radiology, heart and vascular services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and surgical services. In addition, we offer several specialty services including cardiology, dermatology, ENT, general surgery, gynecology, hand and microvascular specialty, obesity medicine (weight management), obstetrics, oncology/hematology, orthopedics, pain management, podiatry, pulmonology, rheumatology, and urology.
We also operate two rural health clinics, Audubon Family Health Clinic and Exira Medical Clinic. Our clinics offer complete care from newborns to senior adults by providing well-child check- ups, age-appropriate preventive care, sports and school physicals, immunizations, and treatment of occasional and ongoing illness.
Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics has been named one of the 2026 Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. ACMH is proud of having received this honor eight times in the past decade. In 2017, Audubon County Memorial Hospital & Clinics was also named a “Top 20 Critical Access Hospital” in the nation by the National Rural Healthcare Association (NRHA).
(Press release: Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics)
