Local doctors get advanced stroke, aneurysm training
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A group of physicians from Skyline came to River Park Thursday to present an in-service training program to River Park personnel to advise them on dealing with neurological problems, such as stroke or aneurysms, and to apprise them of the assistance Skyline can offer through its sophisticated diagnostic equipment.
Attending the in-service were Dr. Robert J. Singer, Dr. Christina M. Burch, and Dr. Sonya Brooks-Shutes.
Though the hospital is currently recruiting a neurology specialist, River Park CEO Steve Otto says the partnership between River Park and Skyline is beneficial.
“Having access to these specialists is so important for the people of Warren County,” Otto said. “Our emergency rooms can work closely together so that if we have a patient that has an acute stroke, patients can get transferred to the appropriate level of care quickly and efficiently.”
River Park chief nursing officer Maria Ryan was pleased the physicians were able to bring information about emerging technology to the local facility.
“We believe at River Park Hospital that people in Warren County deserve the very best,” Ryan said. “And since we do not have a neurosurgeon here, we are affiliated and can get people that service when they need it.”
Dr. Burch, who is a stroke specialist and director of the rehabilitation unit at Skyline, says the outlook for stroke victims is changing.
“We are seeing that the attitude that there’s nothing you can do about a stroke is going by the wayside,” Burch said. “There’s a lot you can do about a stroke.” Burch says there have been a significant number of advances including the new drug tPA, called a “clot buster” that help reduce the damage by breaking up the blood clots that cause 80 percent of ischemic strokes, though she said time is of the essence.
“The sooner we get hold of a stroke patient, the smaller we can make that stroke,” Burch said. “With the tPA we can, under certain circumstances, totally erase the stroke.”
Burch said there have also been advances in the rehabilitation of stroke, and in stroke prevention. “We find out why a person might be prone to stroke and what we can do to prevent another one, or even the first one.”
As a neurosurgeon, Dr. Singer says there is one advance that has made a major difference.
“I think the greatest advance in neurosurgery over the past decade would be in imaging,” Singer said, “and what imaging allows us to do. With imaging we localize areas better.” Singer says imaging can improve the success of surgery significantly. “We’re able to map out the brain and do a safer operation, whether it be brain tumors or blood vessel problems.”
Skyline was the first hospital in Tennessee to earn Primary Stroke Care Center certification, and Otto says he hopes, with the help of River Park’s sister facility, River Park will soon be able to receive certification here as well.