Survivors don't care about 'care'. They want RESULTS. When the hell are you going to deliver results?
LETTER: NJ legislation could ensure better stroke care
Oct. 29 is World Stroke Day. Every two seconds someone in the world dies from stroke, and it is a leading cause of disability.
New
Jersey has been a leader in stroke care and was one of the first states
to designate Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Centers. These hospitals
have resources and processes in place to ensure that they are always
prepared to treat stroke. This is especially important because the most
effective treatments must be administered in the first few hours.
Although
the New Jersey Department of Health approved 52 hospitals to be Primary
Stroke Centers and 14 hospitals to be Comprehensive Stroke Centers, the
department no longer has resources to make sure those hospitals are
still complying with the rules.
A bill currently
under consideration by the New Jersey Legislature (S995/A3670) would
require hospitals that want to be a Comprehensive or Primary Stroke
Center to be certified as such by a national organization, and create a
new level of care called Acute Stroke Ready Hospitals for smaller
hospitals with fewer resources. It also would require that EMS have
protocols in place, so they know what to do and where to go when they
are treating a stroke patient. Over 40 hospitals already have
certification, creating confusion about which hospitals undergo regular
evaluation to ensure compliance and which do not. Hospitals are not
required to be stroke centers; the administration of each hospital
chooses whether to participate.
It is time for New Jersey to update our system of care for stroke patients so that we remain a leader.
Robert Goodman
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