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Telemedicine allows Upstate stroke care to reach Carthage

An electronic link between Upstate and Carthage Area Hospital means that patients exhibiting signs or symptoms of a stroke in the Carthage emergency room will be seen and heard by a stroke neurologist in Syracuse.

Carthage used a Rural Health Access grant to buy the $30,000 computer cart that connects the two hospitals. Most of the stroke exam relies on motion and sound, making it ideal for a telemedicine application. Appropriate patients will receive the clot-busting drug Activase, and ambulance transportation to Upstate for more definitive stroke care.

“We‘re delighted to partner with Carthage Area Hospital in bringing advanced stroke treatment and care to residents of the north country,” Upstate‘s chief executive officer, Dr. John McCabe, MD, told the Watertown Daily Times. “Upstate‘s mission, as the area‘s only academic medical center, is to collaborate on projects just like this and to be a resource for medical professionals throughout the state.”

Carthage hopes to become the first New York State designated primary stroke center in Jefferson County.

Read more stories about what's happening at Upstate in the publication, Physicians Practice.

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