The McLaren Stroke Network, Grand Blanc-based McLaren Health Care’s integrated structure in which to provide comprehensive stroke care, has expanded to provide critical access Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital (SMH) with an enhanced level of potentially lifesaving care.
Through an agreement between the health care providers, patients arriving at Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room suspected of having a stroke will be initially evaluated by a McLaren Stroke Network interventional neurologist in order to thoroughly confirm the diagnosis and advise a treatment plan.
This is the fourth hospital outside of McLaren Health Care for which the McLaren Stroke Network is providing service. McLaren’s coverage previously expanded to include War Memorial Hospital (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.), Mackinac Straits Health System (St. Ignace, Mich.), and Hellen Newberry Joy Hospital (Newberry, Mich.).
McLaren neurologists are in the position to achieve this through the capabilities of TeleStroke, a stroke-specific telehealth platform, allowing them to closely evaluate and interact with the patient and communicate with Schoolcraft Memorial providers.
“Strokes pose a great risk, and we are very grateful and excited to be in the position to expand our network and assist those patients and providers at Schoolcraft Memorial,” said Dr. Aniel Majjhoo, interventional neurologist and McLaren Stroke Network medical director. “We are fortunate to have the expertise and knowledge of many skilled professionals exclusively focused on the care of stroke patients, which is unique to a critical access facility, and we appreciate this opportunity to extend that care into the Manistique community.”
If a patient’s specific stroke case requires an interventional or other procedure, they will be transported to McLaren Northern Michigan in Petoskey or McLaren Flint depending the on the type of procedure needed.
Says Dr. Steven Vix, ER physician at SMH vital to the project’s roll out, “Strokes are a major cause of disability and death, and are a common presentation to the emergency room. Prompt recognition and treatment of stroke is essential for a good outcome. The surgical interventions required for treatment of some strokes is not available in small rural hospitals. The Telestroke program recently instituted provides prompt emergent consultation with invasive neuro-radiologists 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This service helps determine which patients would benefit from immediate transfer to a higher level of care for emergent surgical interventions, and helps local providers determine the appropriate emergent interventions which could be performed locally.”
A disruption of the blood flow within the brain, strokes are a true medical emergency that require prompt medical intervention. Operating a 24-hour, physician-staffed emergency department, Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital emergency physicians will have the ability to connect with stroke-trained neurologists when receiving a patient experiencing symptoms of a stroke.
The McLaren Stroke Network offers a unique and advanced approach, with all suspected stroke patients’ symptoms and diagnostic tests being initially evaluated by experienced interventional neurologists any time of the day or night. This is made possible through the capabilities of the TeleStroke platform.
Upon a thorough diagnosis, including the type of stroke the patient is experiencing, McLaren providers will collaborate with Schoolcraft Memorial staff on a course of treatment, which range from the administration of an IV medication to an intervention procedure, to relieve the symptoms and restore blood flow.
The McLaren Stroke Network covers all 16 of McLaren Health Care’s hospital-based and freestanding emergency departments throughout Michigan, in addition to the four in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and is composed of two Comprehensive Stroke Centers capable of performing advanced procedures and critical care, six Primary Stroke Centers, and an Acute Stroke-Ready Hospital (accreditations from The Joint Commission). McLaren hospitals have routinely been recognized for their proficiency in their care of stroke patients, several others earning Get With The Guidelines® Stroke GOLD PLUS status from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, the organization’s highest achievable honor.
Learn more about the reach and capabilities of the McLaren Stroke Network at mclaren.org/stroke.
To learn more about Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital, visit scmh.org.
About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a $7.3 billion, fully integrated health care delivery system committed to quality, evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 12 hospitals in Michigan, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, a 640-member employed primary and specialty care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 732,838 lives in Michigan and Indiana, home health, infusion and hospice providers, pharmacy services, a clinical laboratory network and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Karmanos Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. McLaren has 28,000 full-, part-time and contracted employees and more than 113,000 network providers throughout Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Learn more at mclaren.org.
About Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital
Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital (SMH) is an independent state-of-the-art, 12-bed, critical access hospital which has been in operation since 1950. The work of its permanent staff includes physicians, specialists, certified physician assistants, nurse practitioners, behavioral health therapists and a nursing team—is supplemented by visiting specialists in Pediatrics, Oncology, Neurology, Audiology, Dermatology, Neurology, Vascular Interventional Radiology, and Obstetrics who visit the area for regular appointments.