Carolina Pines Earns Five American Heart Association Awards for Excellence in Patient Care
Carolina Pines earns 5 American Heart Association awards for excellence in patient care, including gold awards for: rural stroke, stroke, heart failure, rural heart failure, and commitment to quality
HARTSVILLE, South Carolina - Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center (CPRMC) has earned five American Heart Association (AHA) Get With The Guidelines® achievement awards, recognizing the hospital’s continued commitment to providing high-quality, evidence-based care to patients throughout the Pee Dee region.
This year’s achievements include Gold Plus recognition in both stroke and heart failure care, along with Rural Gold recognition in both areas. Carolina Pines maintained its Get With The Guidelines® - Rural Stroke Gold recognition and, for the first time, earned the Get With The Guidelines® - Rural Heart Failure Gold award - marking another important step in the hospital’s commitment to ensuring patients in rural communities have access to exceptional, evidence-based care close to home.
Carolina Pines also received the AHA’s Commitment to Quality award, a special recognition reserved for hospitals that achieve high levels of performance across three or more Get With The Guidelines® programs. Only 222 hospitals nationwide met the criteria for this distinction in 2026, placing Carolina Pines among an elite group recognized for a comprehensive, hospital-wide approach to improving patient care.
“Behind every one of these awards is a patient, a family and a care team working together during what can be one of the most frightening moments of their lives,” said Christy Moody, Chief Nursing Officer at CPRMC. “Whether someone comes to us experiencing a stroke or living with heart failure, our community deserves this level of care close to the people and places they know. We’re incredibly proud of our team for making that possible every day.”
Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center received the following recognitions:
- Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
- Get With The Guidelines® - Rural Stroke Gold
- Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure Gold Plus with Target: Heart Failure Optimal and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
- Get With The Guidelines® - Rural Heart Failure Gold
- American Heart Association Commitment to Quality Award
The Get With The Guidelines® recognitions are based on Carolina Pines’ data from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2025. Hospitals earning these awards demonstrate consistent adherence to the AHA’s research-based guidelines, which are designed to improve outcomes, support more successful recoveries and reduce the risk of hospital readmissions.
The Commitment to Quality award further recognizes hospitals that take a coordinated, systemwide approach to improvement. By using real-time data, evidence-based clinical protocols and collaboration across disciplines, recognized hospitals continually evaluate and strengthen care across multiple specialties.
Stroke and heart disease remain leading causes of death and disability across the country, with rural communities often facing additional barriers to timely, specialized care. The Rural Gold awards recognize hospitals that meet nationally established standards while caring for patients in these areas.
“For our patients and their families, these recognitions offer added reassurance that the stroke and heart failure care they receive here is guided by the latest research and proven best practices,” noted Dr. Brian Sponseller, CEO at CPRMC. “For our team, they reflect the compassion, urgency and attention to detail they bring to every patient. We’re proud to see their work recognized nationally, but even more proud of what it means for the health of our community.”
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program. It helps healthcare teams consistently apply the most current research and clinical recommendations when caring for patients affected by stroke, heart disease and other serious health conditions.
Together, these five awards bring national attention to the work happening every day at CPRMC and reinforce the hospital’s ongoing promise to deliver advanced, compassionate stroke and heart failure care without requiring patients and families to leave their community.
About Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center
As part of the ScionHealth network of hospitals, Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center (CPRMC) provides high-quality healthcare services to the people of several counties in northeastern South Carolina. Patients have come to rely on our experienced, skilled staff and physicians to provide them with the highest level of care and compassion. Through the facilities on our campus, including a 116-bed acute care hospital and an adjoining medical office building, we provide comprehensive services with two things in mind: the care and comfort of our patients. Learn more about CPRMC at www.cprmc.com/about-us.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 14 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.