Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center partners with Upstate University Hospital to provide stroke services
SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- In health care today, partnerships between organizations are necessary to help ensure patients have access to the best care. Knowing the importance of timely care for the treatment of stroke symptoms, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center (CHMC) has teamed up with Upstate University Hospital’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. Now when patients with stroke symptoms arrive in CHMC’s Emergency Department, new technology connects its physicians with neurologists at Upstate through a special telemedicine program.
The addition of Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center brings to three the number of area hospitals that are partnering with Upstate on stroke care.
“Through the use of telemedicine, our collaboration on stroke care with Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg, River Hospital in Alexandria Bay and Carthage Area Hospital in Carthage broadens the reach of our formally designated Comprehensive Stroke Center and enables us to partner with physicians across the state to enhance medical care for patients many miles from Upstate,” said Upstate University Hospital CEO John McCabe, MD. “We are grateful for these partnerships and for the work of the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization in helping to deploy the equipment necessary to make these connections possible.”
At CMHC, Upstate’s Telemedicine Network will provide Upstate neurologists with an array of information, including CT scans, as well as the ability to speak with doctors and the patient at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center from their offices at Upstate in Syracuse.
“Distance should never be a barrier to getting the best stroke care for patients,” said Upstate neurologist Gene Latorre, MD. “Claxton-Hepburn’s Emergency Department providers will be encouraged and supported to keep uncomplicated patients in Ogdensburg. Should a patient need to be transported, consultation with the Upstate Comprehensive Stroke Center Specialist will be provided.”
“Our Telemedicine Network allows the North Country access to expert stroke care regardless of geography,” said Jennifer Schleier, RN BSN, CCRN, program manager of Upstate’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. “We have come to think of this program as stroke care without borders. It is our mission to close the gap between expert medical care and location of the patient, increase access to stroke treatments in rural communities, and to provide educational opportunities to any of our referring hospitals regarding stroke care.”
When a patient arrives at the Emergency Department at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center with what the health care team has determined are symptoms consistent with stroke, Claxton-Hepburn can receive a consult with an Upstate neurologist. Within minutes the neurologist will be able to view the CT scan, examine the patient and talk with patients, families and physician about possible treatment.
The standard protocol for ischemic (non-hemorrhagic) stroke treatment is intravenous tPA, a clot-busting drug that can provide the best benefit to patients if administered within a short time after the first signs of stroke.
“About 1.9 million neurons die every minute after a large vessel occlusion or stroke,” Schleier said. “Having access to an Upstate neurologist who is miles away at a moment’s notice can make all of the difference in the world to the outcome of that stroke patient. We want to give stroke patients the best chance at not only survival but for a life with little or no disability.”
Upstate has partnered with FDRHPO (Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization), who deployed the telemedicine equipment to several North Country Hospitals in an effort to expand this network. They are currently providing telestroke services to River Hospital and Carthage Area Hospital as well.
Upstate is the region’s only Comprehensive Stroke Center as designated by DNV healthcare, a national hospital accrediting body. Upstate is also recognized as a primary stroke center as designated by the state Department of Health. Both of these designations speak to the high level of stroke care available at Upstate.
“We are excited to begin this partnership with Upstate to provide more advanced stroke care in our Emergency Department to our patients,” said Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center CEO Nate Howell. “Now we are able to provide a quicker diagnosis, which decreases a potential delay in treatment. Thanks to this technology in the treatment of stroke patients, our rural location is less of a barrier to care.”
Caption: Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center (CHMC) and Upstate University Hospital announced a partnership to provide stroke services via telemedicine. The technology will enable neurologists at Upstate to confer with physicians at CHMC, view CT scans as well as speak with patients. From right, representing CHMC, are Julianne Sciorra, RN, director of Emergency Room Nursing Services, and Andre Bonnet, MD, medical director of the Emergency Room. Representing Upstate are Jennifer Schleier, RN BSN, CCRN, stroke program manager; Joshua Onyan, RN, stroke program outreach coordinator; Catherine Stephens, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, assistant director of nursing for inpatient services.
