Officials from Wellington Regional Medical Center and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association with the FAST letters designed to remind people about the signs of stroke. PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER
Wellington Regional Medical Center Designated A Comprehensive Stroke Center Recognizing the prevalence of stroke-related hospital visits, Wellington Regional Medical Center made a commitment to the community to become a Comprehensive Stroke Center, which allows the hospital to care for some of the most complex cases and allows residents to receive care without having to leave the Wellington area. WRMC is one of only 40 hospitals in Florida with this advanced designation. “Previously, residents of Wellington and the surrounding communities were transported out of the area for stroke care,” WRMC CEO Robbin Lee said. “Now, not only can we treat our residents here in their community, we provide stroke care that follows nationally recognized guidelines that ultimately saves lives and improves the outcomes of stroke.” The Comprehensive Stroke Center designation is given to hospitals that have distinct abilities to treat the most complex neurovascular diseases, such as stroke. WRMC’s dedicated, multidisciplinary stroke team, which is spe-
cially trained and available to care for stroke patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, includes a neuro-interventionalist, neurosurgeon, neurologists, emergency room physicians, intensivists, critical care registered nurses and a stroke coordinator. To support the program, WRMC invested in a state-of-the-art neurointerventional lab that features a biplane angiography system to diagnose and treat strokes and other neurovascular diseases. The new equipment provides 3D technology, allowing for optimal evaluation of the neurological vascular system for diagnostic and treatment purposes. The neurointerventional program is led by Medical Director Dr. Juan Go-
mez, a board-certified radiologist with fellowship training in neurointerventional radiology, neurodiagnostic radiology and vascular/interventional radiology. Gomez performs procedures in the neurological field and has vast experience in endovascular treatment of lower extremity arterial disease, venous disease and aortic aneurism treatment. According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA), stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. WRMC recently received the AHA/ ASA’s Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate wellington the magazine | july 2017
43