Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital Recognized For Advancing Rural Stroke Care

NORTH FORK, NY — Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital has been recognized for taking steps to help stroke patients and improve survival rates, officials said.

To that end, Stony Brook ELIH earned the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Rural Recognition Bronze Award "for its commitment to optimizing stroke care and reducing disparities in rural health outcomes," hospital officials said.

The recognition, officials said, comes at a critical time, as people living in rural communities face significant health challenges, including an average life expectancy three years shorter than their urban counterparts, a 40 percent higher likelihood of developing heart disease, and a 30 percent greater risk of stroke-related death, according to an American Heart Association presidential advisory on rural health.

"We are proud that our team at SBELIH is being recognized for the important work we do every day to improve the lives of people on the North Fork and Shelter Island who are affected by stroke, giving them the best possible chance of recovery and survival," said Paul J. Connor, III, chief administrative officer, SBELIH. "This 2026 award by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association affirms that SBELIH meets rigorous national standards for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke by applying the latest evidence-based guidelines to improve patient outcomes in our East End communities."

He added: "As a hospital serving a rural community, we face challenges such as extended interfacility transportation times. We have made it a priority to ensure those challenges never compromise the high standard of care our stroke patients receive. Rural communities deserve exceptional stroke care, and I am proud of our team's unwavering commitment to making this standard a reality."

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, hospital officials said. When this happens, brain cells begin to die. Early detection and rapid treatment are critical to improving survival, minimizing disability and supporting faster recovery, hospital officials said.

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 initiation of timely evidence-based care, officials added.

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.

The recognition is focused upon 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, health officials said.

"Patients and health care professionals on the North Fork and Shelter Island face unique health care challenges and opportunities," said Karen E. Joynt Maddox, M.D., chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee and co-author on the Association’s advisory on rural health. "Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital has advanced the important work of improving care for all Americans, regardless of where they live."