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QVH Receives Comprehensive Stroke Center Designation
The certification allows Queen of the Valley Hospital to receive emergency ambulance runs with stroke patients, provide complex stroke care
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WEST COVINA, Calif. – Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina today can begin receiving emergency ambulance runs for urgent stroke patients after being designated a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency.
“I’ve always said that time is brain, and the Comprehensive Stroke Center designation at Queen of the Valley Hospital means that critical stroke patients will receive life-saving care more quickly than being diverted to other facilities,” said Emanate Health CEO Robert H. Curry. “When every minute counts, having top-notch care nearby could help minimize physical damage to the brain and shorten rehabilitation times.”
A Comprehensive Stroke Center is defined as a 9-1-1 receiving hospital that has met the standards of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and LA County EMS as a comprehensive or thrombectomy capable stroke center.
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Comprehensive Stroke Centers, like Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital, staff subspecialty neurology and neurointerventional physicians, who are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Medical experts perform clot-removing procedures, like a thrombectomy—an interventional procedure for the removal of a blood clot from an artery or vessel.
Queen of the Valley Hospital (QVH) will now receive emergency ambulance runs with urgent stroke patients that would have been destined for hospitals in Arcadia and Pomona, which are both at least 12 miles away from Emanate Health in West Covina.
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Last fall, QVH received its designation as a Primary Plus Stroke Center (PSC+) by DNV-GL Healthcare, demonstrating that it had achieved all the requirements of a Primary Stroke Program. The certification included the addition of thrombectomy capabilities, medical staff and metric requirements that are part of a Comprehensive Stroke Center program.
“We’re very proud to staff leading physicians and surgeons who use state-of-the art technology to treat stroke patients in our area of the San Gabriel Valley to offer the best possible patient outcomes,” said Mary Konyalian, RN, Vice President Neuroscience & Nursing. “It’s taken years of hard work, but we’ve made it to the mountaintop and reached the highest level of stroke care certifications.”
According to the American Stroke Association, about 795,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means, on average, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds. Stroke kills more than 137,000 people a year and is one of the leading causes of death. On average, every four minutes someone dies of stroke and is a leading cause of serious, long-term adult disability. Because stroke affects blood flow to the brain, response time and immediate treatment is crucial to limiting the extent of long-term damage.
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About Emanate Health
Emanate Health, www.emanatehealth.org, is the largest nonprofit health care provider serving the one million residents of the San Gabriel Valley in California. The system provides specialized care in Behavioral Health, Cancer, Cardiovascular, Emergency, Neuroscience and Stroke, Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, and Women’s Health. Its family of hospitals and hospice include Emanate Health Inter-Community in Covina, and Emanate Health Queen of the Valley in West Covina, Emanate Health Foothill Presbyterian in Glendora, Emanate Health Hospice and Emanate Health Home Care in West Covina, as well as other clinics throughout the region. Year after year the health care system has been voted “Best Hospital” and “Best Place to Work” and providers are consistently among the “Top Doctors” in Los Angeles County and hospitals are graded A for Patient Safety by The Leapfrog Group. Visit emanatehealth.org, our Newsroom and connect with us on LinkedIn │Twitter │ Instagram │ Facebook.