Saint Louise Regional Hospital will soon offer stroke care for community

Gilroy, California (August 9, 2010) – Saint Louise Regional Hospital will provide the best in stroke care starting early in September. The brand new stroke program will be the first in the Bay Area to implement a telemedicine program, which will extend the level of care the hospital is currently able to provide stroke patients.

“It is very important that we stay committed to the needs of our community and even more crucial that we provide the best quality care we can when someone suffers from a stroke,” says Joanne Allen, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This program will bring specialty care to our hospital and our community. We can keep our patients locally to be with their families and see that they will be cared for by physicians who know them.”

An informational kick-off event for the new stroke program will be held on August 19^th at the hospital and will feature one of the computers used for Teleneurology.

“In conjunction with electronic health records, the telemedicine program will significantly increase our ability to care for stroke patients,” says Marilyn Gerrior RN, MSN, Chief Nursing Executive at Saint Louise.

With a high-quality, reliable telemedicine infrastructure, the telemedicine program will provide over 40 board-certified, emergency neurologists from large, state-of-the-art teaching institutions. These neurologists will evaluate patients in real time via Saint Louise’s picture archiving and communications system. These video consultations will be very beneficial to stroke patients, as their physical symptoms must be viewed for physicians to make a proper diagnosis. The patient and his or her family can see and talk with the neurologist and vice versa through a wireless computer with a camera. Saint Louise will then work with the stroke specialists at larger institutions to develop appropriate treatment plans.

“The telemedicine system will allow us 24-hour access to the most specialized physicians,” says Scott Thompson, RN, BSN, CEN, Director of Critical Care Services at Saint Louise. “Patients will no longer have to bypass our facility as they once did. The new telemedicine program is a testament to our commitment to improving the services we provide in order to produce better outcomes for the patients we serve.”

The program provides 24-hour coverage for our ED, ICU, Medical/Surgical floor and our Hospitalists. The response time is significantly faster than having the usual on-site, on-call neurologists.

A stroke occurs when blood vessels in the brain clog (ischemic stroke) or burst (hemorrhagic stroke). During a stroke, time is crucial because every minute treatment is delayed means more brain cells may be lost.

“In the past, if a patient came in experiencing stroke symptoms and the ED staff felt he or she would benefit from a neurological consultation, the patient was transferred to another facility for care,” says Gerrior. “However, upcoming advances at Saint Louise will enable us to care for stroke patients in the comfort of the community in which they live.”

Some warning signs for a stroke include sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg, sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness or loss of coordination, and sudden severe headaches with no known cause. Please call 911 immediately if you are experiencing any of these warning signs.

Stroke education classes will be open to Saint Louise staff starting August 16^th through September 29^th.

For more information, please call the Saint Louise Regional Hospital stroke coordinator at (408) 848-4946.