Your hospital’s Get With The Guidelines Performance Achievement Award is tangible evidence of your care team’s hard work and commitment to saving lives. It’s an achievement worth celebrating.

Spread the word by  sending an e-card to your colleagues, leadership and boards. Customized t-shirts and other products are also available for purchase.

In addition to our national recognition ceremonies, we urge you to celebrate your success within your hospital and community.

Here are some ideas for holding a recognition celebration:

• Schedule a ceremony at your hospital, inviting key team members, local dignitaries, board members and the media. (Please check with your local Get With The Guidelines representative for publicity guidelines.)
• Add recognition ceremonies to scheduled staff gatherings, such as department meetings, or plan a dedicated GWTG recognition event for the care team.
• Ask your hospital’s GWTG champion to provide a recap of the program, its goals and the hospital’s experience with GWTG.
• Have a photographer document the certificate or award presentation.
• Create a celebratory atmosphere by distributing GWTG give-away items, disposable cameras to document the event and heart-healthy refreshments.
• Prominently display GWTG posters, banners and table tents.
• Run an ad about your hospital’s GWTG recognition in the local newspaper.
• Include an article about the GWTG recognition in your hospital’s newsletter.

Here are some ideas for how you can publicize your GWTG accomplishments within the hospital:

• Table tent ads — place them on tables in patient waiting rooms, cafeterias, etc.
• Signage in various restrooms — framed mention on the wall or a promo ad on the individual stall walls
• Banner in your main entrance
• Small ad or sticker placed on the daily patient menu
• Still ad or slide on the internal closed circuit TV
• Ad or article in your internal newsletter
• Memo sent to the hospital board of directors and/or the hospital CEO

Here are some ideas on how you can publicize your GWTG accomplishments within the community:

• Radio ad spot
• Ad or verbiage on your hospital Web site home page
• Ad on a local billboard
• Local newspaper wrapper, ad or sticker on the front page
• Add verbiage to your “on-hold” message recording
• Ad or article in your external newsletter

Need help saying it? Use our  Key Messages

* Note: Hospitals should work closely with their local QI representative to ensure promotional items comply with the GWTG branding guidelines as well as to ensure the content of all statements is correct. Hospitals are not granted the use of the AHA, ASA or AHA/ASA logos for becoming a GWTG Performance Achievement Award recipient.