Shady Grove Adventist designated as a Primary Stroke Center

‘‘The intent of the designation is to recognize hospitals that made the required investments to improve acute stroke care and these improvements demonstrated to improve patient care efficacy, improve use of acute stroke care therapies and improve patient satisfaction,” Young said.

Shady Grove is one of 28 hospitals designated as Primary Stroke Centers, including Montgomery General in Olney, Holy Cross in Silver Spring and Suburban in Bethesda.

The new program means the hospital must now regularly report information to the state about how it treats each stroke patient.

‘‘It raises the awareness of strokes, but also raises the bar on hospitals reporting data,” said Dr. Gaurov Dayal, chief medical officer at Shady Grove. ‘‘It’s important see what hospitals are doing well and allows hospitals to work together in providing care for stroke patients.”

As a Primary Stroke Center, Shady Grove has measures in place that allow for a more streamlined approach to caring for stroke patients.

‘‘It’s a multidisciplinary team, so neurosurgeons, surgeons, emergency department doctors — they’re all on same page and follow nationally accepted guidelines, which ensure consistency among all of our patients,” Dayal said.

In implementing the program, Shady Grove added an integrated emergency response system, which allows EMS providers to alert the hospital’s stroke team that a stroke patient is coming. The hospital also added a stroke team coordinator and 24-hour neurosurgical and neuroimaging services.

A stroke is a ‘‘brain attack” that cuts off vital blood flow and oxygen to the brain. Symptoms of an acute stroke include sudden numbness or weakness on one side of body, confusion and trouble speaking, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, problems with coordination and a severe headache with no known cause.

The only Food and Drug Administration-approved drug to treat strokes is tissue plasminogen activator and is only effective if taken within three hours of the start of symptoms. Young urges people who experience symptoms of a stroke to seek medical attention immediately.

‘‘Do not go to bed and see if it gets better in morning, don’t call your primary doctor and wait for them to call you back,” Young said. ‘‘It’s a medical emergency. Call 911.”