December 8, 2006

Regions Hospital participates in American Stroke Association's "Get with the Guidelines-Stroke" initiative to improve stroke care
St. Paul, Minn., -- Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease and cancer. To help reduce morbidity due to stroke and to improve the overall quality and consistency of care delivered to stroke patients, Regions Hospital is participating in the American Stroke Association's "Get with the Guidelines - Stroke" (GWTG-Stroke) initiative.

In 2005, Regions treated more than 350 stroke patients in its Emergency Department. Regions is equipped to provide specialized care 24/7 to stroke patients including neurointerventional procedures such as aneurysm repair, carotid angioplasty and vertebroplasty, as well as imaging scans, neurology evaluations and the delivery of clot-busting medications. Neurosurgeons are also available around the clock to perform life-saving surgeries. For those requiring admittance, Regions recently opened a new neuroscience inpatient unit for both neurological (including stroke and TIA) and neurosurgical patients as part of its goal to develop an integrated neurosciences program.

"Our stroke program is a large and important part of our overall neuroscience program," said Greg Soderberg, director of neuroscience services. "We chose to participate in the "Get with the Guidelines - Stroke" initiative because it identifies standardized care practices, quality improvement measures and educational tools that enable us to improve the quality and consistency of care we provide to our stroke patients, and ultimately save more lives."

As a "GWTG-Stroke" hospital, Regions is adding new practices and revising some established ones in order to rapidly diagnose and treat stroke patients. For example, Regions has trained its staff to recognize signs of stroke per the National Institute of Health stroke scale, and it has developed new standing orders so all patients are provided the same levels of care. In addition, the hospital's Rapid Response team, which was established one year ago, can be activated when a patient shows neurological changes symptomatic of a stroke. The goal of the team is to intervene early enough to prevent catastrophic medical events (including cardiac or respiratory arrest) from occurring.

Regions is also working to prevent subsequent strokes through preventive care measures and education. For example, Regions aggressively provides medications to patients as indicated in the secondary stroke prevention guidelines by the American Stroke Association and is working to provide information to inpatients and the public on topics such as recognizing symptoms of a stroke; smoking cessation; and weight, exercise, diabetes and cholesterol control. Regions currently hosts the East Metro Stroke Support Group which offers support and education to stroke victims and their families.

Regions Hospital is a Level I Trauma Center and teaching hospital serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin for more than 130 years. Regions is a private hospital providing outstanding care in womens health, heart, cancer, surgery, orthopaedics, neurosciences, burn, emergency care and more. Regions is part of the HealthPartners family of care. Additional information is available at regionshospital.com.

Contact: Kelli Trask (651) 629-0411 pager