2 minute read
Advancements in Stroke Care
The first stroke patient in Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s (NGMC) new Neurointerventional Lab in Gainesville began talking before she was off the table and walked out of the hospital on her own two feet just a couple of days later. “I wanted to get home,” said Anita Cannon, 72. “To my home, to my children and my grandchildren. That’s all I could think about, and they gave me the chance to do that.”
Before the lab was constructed, though, Cannon, who was on vacation at a North Georgia campground, would have been transferred to another hospital for care after NGMC staff did all they could do. But with the new, state-of-the-art lab, which is the only one of its kind in Northeast Georgia, Cannon was able to get the care she needed right away from a skilled and passionate team.
“I can’t say enough about them,” Cannon said. “Everybody I talk to — even my doctor in Florida — said I would have been in a nursing home had I been down there. He’d never seen a team that moved so fast. It was just amazing.”
Sung Lee, MD, a neurointerventional surgeon with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG) and NGMC’s medical director of Neurointerventional Surgery, is the only doctor in the region performing mechanical thrombectomies — a critical stroke intervention that uses small catheters and wires to remove blood clots from the brain.
It’s the procedure he performed on Cannon, and just one way he’s helping to bring NGMC’s level of care to new heights.
“We are grateful for our colleagues in Atlanta, but the delay in getting to timely treatment was a real detriment to our community,” said Dr. Lee. “This is a game-changer for how we treat strokes, and it gives us the ability to perform other complex brain, spinal and vascular procedures. It’s the dawn of a new era of neurological care in Hall County and the region.”
On top of the new lab opening in Gainesville, NGMC Gainesville also received its recertification as a Primary Stroke Center through DNV GL Healthcare. Shortly afterwards, NGMC Barrow and NGMC Braselton were certified for their first time as Primary Stroke Centers – a major accomplishment for Northest Georgia Health System (NGHS) and North Georgia. Primary Stroke Center certification means that a hospital can provide treatment for a broad range of stroke conditions, along with some acute therapies, and admit patients to a designated stroke unit specifically assigned for stroke care. Primary Stroke Centers also act as a resource center for other facilities in the region, including being a main transfer site for stabilized stroke patients.
“With the new lab in Gainesville and three hospital campuses certified as Primary Stroke Centers, the community can rest assured that it will receive the best and quickest stroke care close to home,” emphasized Glabach.
When it comes to strokes, seconds could be the difference between full recovery and long-term effects, so it’s important to recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke. The acronym BE FAST is an easy way to remember what to look out for:
Balance difficulties Eyesight changes Face drooping Arm weakness Speech slurring Time to call 911
To learn more about NGMC’s leading stroke care and the neurointerventional team that’s saving lives, visit nghs.com/stroke-care.
