Park Ridge Health receives designation as stroke capable hospital

From the press release from Park Ridge Health:

Hendersonville, N.C. (July 25, 2012) – Park Ridge Health has been designated as a Stroke Capable Hospital in Henderson County by the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). This recognition means patients showing symptoms of acute stroke can be brought by EMS personnel to Park Ridge Health to be treated quickly and efficiently with life-saving measures.

“The mantra for stroke care is ‘time= brain,’” said Stuart Scott, Director of the Emergency Department and Critical Care Unit at Park Ridge Health. “When it comes to strokes, the quicker the treatment, the better the result. In coordination and consultation with the neurologists at Mountain Neurological Center, our Park Ridge Health physicians are able to quickly diagnose and provide treatment options for patients presenting with stroke-like symptoms to limit the extent of the stroke, preserve quality of life and, in many cases, save lives.”

“We’re privileged to have three hospitals in the area that can provide stroke treatment with thrombolytic therapy,” said William Thiemkey, D.O., Medical Director of the Park Ridge Health Emergency Department. “When EMS has a patient that needs emergency stroke care in our area, they bring them directly to Park Ridge Health.”

According to the North Carolina Stroke Care Collaborative, stroke is a greater health burden in North Carolina than in most other areas of the country. North Carolina has the seventh highest stroke mortality rate in the nation, and led to nearly 4,500 deaths throughout the state in 2009.

About Park Ridge Health:
Park Ridge Health was built by Henderson County residents, and more than 100 years later is a beloved piece of our growing community’s health care network, providing quality, compassionate care in a Christian environment. In 1986, Park Ridge Health partnered with Adventist Health System, joining a family of 43 exceptional not-for-profit community hospitals across the country. Leading the way in many medical firsts for the region – including state-of-the-art surgery suites, a boutique baby delivery experience and North Carolina’s first 64-slice CT scanner in 2006 – Park Ridge Health provides personalized care throughout the region, offering a dedicated network of more than 100 primary care and specialty physicians and providers, nationally awarded cancer services, full-service orthopedic care and the only accredited hyperbaric medicine facility in Western North Carolina. For more information about Park Ridge Health or to find a physician, please visit www.parkridgehealth.org or call 855.PRH.LIFE (855.774.5433).