The only Joint Commission Accredited Primary Stroke Center in the Midlands is at Palmetto Health.
The experts are here. The technology is here. The extraordinary care is here, 24/7.
Palmetto Health obtained designation as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center from The Joint Commission.
The Stroke Center is led by Souvik Sen, MD, MS, MPH, an internationally recognized stroke neurologist, and chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Sen joined to the Palmetto Health team to develop a stroke center to serve the midlands of South Carolina, where there was previously a significant gap in stroke care. The Stroke Center at Palmetto Health Richland is a multidisciplinary program that cares for patients throughout the hospital, from the Emergency Department to the Stroke Unit, and incorporates state-of-the-art approaches to caring for those patients affected by stroke. The team of dedicated providers surrounding their care includes:
- neurocritical care neurologists
- emergency medicine physicians
- interventional radiologist and endovascular neurosurgeons
- physical therapists
- speech therapists
- respiratory therapists
- CT & MRI technologists
- nurses with special care emphasis on stroke
- social workers
- nutritionists
Because a stroke cannot be scheduled.....
the stroke team, often referred to as the "Brain Attack Team" (BAT). is ready 24/7 to treat the citizens of Richland, Lexington and surrounding counties who are victims of stroke and other abnormal vascularities of the brain. Using the clot busting drug, tPA, is just one of the life-saving protocols used at the Stroke Center for an ischemic stroke. almetto Health is home to the McCausland Center for Brain Imaging featuring 3 Tesla (3T-MRI), which allows better visualization to quickly assess stroke.
The expertise of the medical staff involved in the stroke program allows for many alternatives that are not available around the clock at other hospitals. The stroke team is well versed in the treatment of all types of strokes:
- ischemic stroke (reduced blood flow due to a blood clot)
- hemorrhagic stroke (reduced blood supply due to a blood vessel bursting)
- TIA (trans-ischemic attack — "mini-stroke")
In addition, neuro-interventional physicians on the team can intervene in the treatment of other threatening vascular brain conditions:
- Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
- Cerebral aneurysm
Since stroke and heart disease are often related, the patients at Palmetto Health have the luxury of having a state-of-the art dedicated Heart Hospital right next door that offers a highly trained cardiac team as a resource for the stroke patient.
For more information, call Kelly Hawsey, MA, BSN, CFRN, CCEMT-P, Manager, Stroke Center, at 803-434-7788.
Learn about endovascular-neurosurgeon, Sharon Webb, M.D. and her thoughts about living here, serving the people of the midlands, and what to do if STROKE happens.
Sharon Webb, M.D., Palmetto Health Neurosurgery Associates
