Outcomes

If you or a loved one is having a stroke, call 911 immediately!

The UF Health Shands Comprehensive Stroke Center earned national comprehensive stroke center certification from The Joint Commission in 2014. UF Health is one of 12 centers in the state of Florida, and 217 in the nation with this certification, joining an elite group of hospitals focused on quality stroke care proven to improve patient outcomes. These stroke centers, recognized as industry leaders, set the national agenda in highly specialized stroke care.

Along with these certifications, UF Health Shands Comprehensive Stroke Center received three additional honors in 2025 from the American Stroke Association/American Heart Association, including:

• Stroke Honor Roll Elite PLUS - 75% of applicable patients experience door-to-needle times of 45 minutes or less and 50% of applicable patients experience door-to-needle times of 30 minutes or less.
• Stroke Honor Roll Advanced Therapy - 50% of applicable patients experiencing door-to-device times of 90 minutes or less for direct arriving patients and 60 minutes or less for transfer patients (within 6 hours or 24 hours).
• Type 2 Diabetes℠ Honor Roll - recognizes hospitals for providing the most up-to-date, evidence-based care for patients with type 2 diabetes who are hospitalized with heart failure, heart attack or stroke.

Rapid stroke treatments and our results

Learn more about UF Health cases and specific outcomes we have achieved:

In 2024, UF Health treated a total of 1043 stroke cases. These included:

• 116 cases transferred from other hospitals
• 120 cases receiving IV thrombolytics*
• 133 cases undergoing mechanical thrombectomies**
• 108 cases involving aneurysm repairs

*Thrombolytics are life-saving medications used to dissolve clots in the brain's blood vessels during a stroke.

**Mechanical thrombectomy is a surgical procedure performed in the operating room to remove a clot from a brain blood vessel during a stroke.

Discharge after stroke results

Of the stroke patients treated at UF Health in 2024:

• 43% were discharged home
• 24% were discharged to a rehab facility
• 7% were discharged to another inpatient hospital
• 6% were discharged to a skilled nursing facility
• 1% were discharged to a non-specified facility
• 19% were discharged to hospice or resulted in fatality

Joint Commission requirements and UF Health comparison

The graph above compares The Joint Commission’s minimum case requirements with UF Health's cases treated in 2024. UF Health consistently exceeded the requirements in each category, including:

• Subarachnoid hemorrhage treatment
• Endovascular procedures for aneurysms
• Mechanical thrombectomy for ischemic stroke
• IV thrombolytic administration

For the most up-to-date UF Health Comprehensive Stroke Center data visit the Get With The Guidelines® Public Reporting site.