The Joint Commission awarded its first comprehensive stroke center certification to the Stanford Stroke Center at Stanford Hospital & Clinics in Palo Alto, Calif.

The comprehensive stroke center certification, developed with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, is the third disease-specific care program certification launched by the commission and follows the previous launch of programs for certification of primary stroke centers and advanced certification in heart failure, according to a news release.

The awarding of the certification follows an evaluation by Joint Commission surveyors on Oct. 18-19 that looked at such things as advanced imaging and treatment capabilities, availability of specialized treatments, participation in research, and staff and physicians education and competency levels, according to the release.