Stroke-approved hospitals provide improved response, treatment for “brain attack”
Paramedics now have options when transporting stroke victims to the nearest certified stroke center in Los Angeles County. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital has been designated as an Approved Stroke Center (ASC) by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and Emergency Medical Services Agency, following the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ of the hospital as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center
This means that, effective Tuesday, April 6, patients transported by the 9-1-1 system who meet the criteria for stroke will be taken directly to Henry Mayo Hospital, bypassing hospitals that have not earned this designation. Henry Mayo is one of only 14 hospitals in the Los Angeles County to earn this designation, with only two in Northern Los Angeles County.
“Stroke injury worsens as more time passes without treatment, so early identification and rapid treatment is crucial to patient outcomes. With this designation, patients will never need to be transported out of the Santa Clarita Valley by paramedics,” said Roger Seaver, president and CEO of Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. “This designation ensures that we are able to respond to all residents of the SCV and beyond so that their care will be as quick and efficient as possible in the event of a stroke.”
The American Stroke Association/American Heart Association (ASA) launched its approved Stroke Center system in 2009 with 9 participating hospitals in cooperation with LA County Department of Health Services (DHS) and County Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
The Primary Stroke Center system includes a patient destination policy that enables the transport of select 9-1-1 stroke patients to designated Primary Stroke Centers—rather than the closest hospital.
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital earned the Advanced Primary Stroke Center designation from The Joint Commission for Primary Stroke Centers in March, a prerequisite to being designated as an Approved Stroke Center by the LA County Department of Health.
As such, Henry Mayo Hospital is equipped with a neurologist and acute stroke team available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to quickly evaluate patients and begin intervention.
“Time is of the essence during a stroke, and a quick evaluation can allow us to give thrombolytics [clot-busting drugs] to patients who are candidates to receive it,” said Mark Schultz, MD, board-certified neurologist and medical director of Henry Mayo’s Primary Stroke Center. “This rapid treatment can mean the difference between the patient becoming impaired from a stroke or being able to resume normal activities with minor to no damage.”
Henry Mayo’s stroke program includes neurologists and clinicians specializing in stroke diagnosis and treatment who work closely with hospital staff to offer comprehensive services from intervention to rehabilitation.
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital is a 221-bed not-for-profit acute care hospital serving the Santa Clarita Valley since 1975, including Acton, Agua Dulce, Canyon Country, Castaic, Newhall, Saugus, and Valencia and Val Verde. Services include trauma, emergency, intensive care, maternity, surgery, nursing, wound care, behavioral health, and acute rehab, as well as cancer, cardiology, imaging, lab, digestive, respiratory services and physical and occupational therapies. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital is located at 23845 McBean Parkway, Valencia. For more information, visit www.henrymayo.com or call 661-253-8000.