Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare receives certification as primary stroke center

Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare’s hospital in Pleasanton, California, earned Joint Commission certification as a primary stroke center on Sept. 25, marking the inauguration of a new primary stroke center in the Tri-Valley area.

The Joint Commission, an independent private organization, surveys health care organizations throughout the United States, inspecting applicant institutions and programs from a number of different perspectives and employing numerous criteria to assess applicants’ total performance from the minute patients show up to the point of their discharge.

  “Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare is proud to receive this certification from The Joint Commission. This designation allows us to provide a high level of neurovascular care to the many stroke patients in the region who need it most,” said Rick Shumway, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare. “As a primary stroke center, we are already seeing the positive impact this is having on the community. Patients are receiving care closer to home, allowing them faster treatment and better outcomes.”

Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare’s hospital underwent a rigorous on-site review in August. During the certification visit, The Joint Commission measured the hospital against more than 100 standards for the care of stroke patients, including door-to-CT scan times, how quickly patients received tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA — the clot-busting medication — and the quality of care administered within those time frames.

“The stroke care team at Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare has done exceptional work over the past few years to achieve this certification,” said David Entwistle, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care. “For patients suffering a stroke, having an option for the highest quality care close to home can make a life-changing difference. The team at Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare has made that option a reality.”

Residents of the Tri-Valley area will reap substantial, immediate health benefits, said Prashanth Krishnamohan, MD medical director of Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare’s neurology and stroke program.

“This allows us to provide prompt treatment to local stroke patients,” he said. “Previously, even someone whose stroke happened right outside our door would have been taken to another primary stroke center in the Bay Area for evaluation and treatment. That could mean a 15-minute to one-hour drive in an ambulance.”

Around-the-clock care

Patients will have around-the-clock neurology care in person or through telemedicine technology in collaboration with Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto.

“Patients have 24/7 access to stroke-trained neurologists any time of the day or night — even at 2 o’clock in the morning or on weekends,” Krishnamohan said. “Our remote-connection technology enables those doctors to perform the same kind of detailed evaluation from a distance that would be provided at the patient’s bedside.”

Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare’s dedicated 24/7 stroke response team is ready to administer clot-busting medicine quickly to all patients who are eligible; to deploy advanced imaging software that helps identify patients who might benefit from more advanced modes of treatment; and when necessary, to swiftly transfer patients to Stanford Health Care, which offers a full spectrum of such advanced treatment modes.