Oroville, CA, September 30, 2011 – Oroville Hospital was recently certified as a Primary Stroke Center also called a Stroke Receiving Center. The Sierra-Sacramento Valley Emergency Medical Services Agency surveyed Oroville Hospital’s Stroke Program and determined, without reservation, that all stroke criteria and standards had been met. These criteria proved that Oroville Hospital has taken exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes by properly and efficiently caring for patients with acute stroke.
Providing stroke patients with rapid treatment requires a team of medical providers. Oroville Hospital has had a dedicated stroke team in place since April 15, 2011. This team consists of Dr. Ardavan Afrasiabi, Medical Director, Dr. Matthew Fine, Program Developer as well as the Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer and Patient Safety Director, Mary Jarschke R.N., Stroke Coordinator, Hardy Lusher R.N., Patient Safety Nurse, and Susan Amos, Patient Safety Coordinator. This team guarantees that all acute stroke patients receive multidisciplinary, rapid, coordinated treatment.
Mary Jarschke, Oroville Hospital’s Stroke Coordinator, says “Our goal is to provide the most current evidence-based treatment for stroke patients from the minute they arrive in our Emergency Department thru rehabilitation to home, as well as community education to increase stroke awareness.”
Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the United States and is the leading cause of serious, long–term disability. A stroke strikes when blood flow to the brain gets interrupted by a clogged or ruptured artery. This denies oxygen and nutrients to brain cells, which soon die, causing brain damage and depriving the body of functions controlled by that area of the brain.
“It is important to get to the hospital quickly,” Mary Jarschke says, “because treatment must be given within a certain time period. Every minute that treatment is delayed, the patient loses 1.9 million brain cells. It is important for us to be able to educate our community as well as provide rapid treatment to stroke patients. Becoming certified validates all the hard work our hospital has done to improve the outcomes of stroke.”
OrovilleHospitalis continuing to improve stroke care as well as educate the community. The stroke program is based on proven research, consists of multidisciplinary team members that look at stroke at every angle and provides continual care from the hospital stay to home.