Business Briefs: Dec. 25, 2014
Sanford Jackson Medical Center has been designated a stroke-ready hospital.
The local medical center joins 68 regional hospitals recently recognized for their preparedness to evaluate, stabilize and provide emergency treatment to patients with acute stroke symptoms.
In 2013, the Minnesota Legislature authorized the Minnesota Department of Health to designate hospitals in Minnesota as stroke-ready hospitals. The designations from lowest to highest level of stroke care are Acute Stroke Ready Hospitals, Primary Stroke Centers and Comprehensive Stroke Centers. The Acute Stroke Ready Hospital designation means Sanford JMC is equipped to evaluate, stabilize and provide emergency care to patients with acute stroke symptoms.
A stroke-ready hospital always has a stroke team available, has a CT scanner onsite and can administer a key clot-dissolving drug called tPA. The stroke-read hospital designation process is the principal component of the Minnesota Stroke System.
Sanford JMC Administrator Mary Ruyter said the hospital sought the designation to improve operations and raise community awareness about the hospitals stroke care.
When someone in our community recognizes his or her signs of a stroke, we want that person to know we are prepared to provide stroke-ready care, Ruyter said.
MDH Commissioner of Health Ed Ehlinger said nearly one in three Minnesota stroke victims first receive care at a small, rural hospital. In addition, more than one-third of Minnesotans live more than 60 minutes away from a Primary Stroke Center. These facts, Ehlinger said, highlight the importance of local hospitals becoming designated as stroke-ready facilities.
When it comes to stroke, time lost is brain lost, Ehlinger said. That is why it is so crucial that all Minnesota hospitals are ready to deliver high-quality stroke care close to home.
Sanford Jackson Medical Center is part of Sanford Health, based in Sioux Falls, S.D.
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Business Briefs: Dec. 25, 2014