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YOUNGSTOWN -- Mercy Health's St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital has received high marks for stroke care from The Joint Commission, the highly-regarded organization that evaluates and accredits health care providers.
Meanwhile, word remains out on a grant request for $5 million the hospital would use to further improve on stroke care.
The hospital earned the commission's thrombectomy-capable stroke center certification, which, according to Kathleen Harley, hospital president, is an advanced certification -- "the next level up from a primary stroke center," she said.
St. Elizabeth Youngstown has been a primary stroke center since 2004; it's one of only a few in the immediate area to have earned the certification, according to a Mercy Health press release.
The newest certification is awarded to hospitals that are primary stroke centers that also perform endovascular thrombectomy procedures and provide care after the procedure, the release states.
The certification is given in collaboration with the American Heart and Stroke associations, according to the commission's website.
Thrombectomy, according to the National Library of Medicine, involves removing a clot from a blood vessel, most commonly from the brain, heart or lungs.
Being given the commission's Gold Seal of Approval and the stroke association's Heart-Check mark for thrombectomy-capable stroke center certification "recognizes St. Elizabeth Youngstown for excellence in performing thrombectomies and reflects our commitment to serving our community by providing high-quality care," Harley said.
In March, representatives of the commission performed an unannounced onsite review to evaluate compliance with related certification standards, and conduct observations and interviews.
The hospital, Harley said, is seeing more patients because of its two interventional neurologists, physicians who perform minimally invasive procedures called endovascular stroke care for hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes, with high quality outcomes.
"Before you can apply for this advanced certification, you must already have your program established, as the Joint Commission evaluates all aspects of your program to determine if you will be awarded this higher level of accreditation," Harley said. "We started performing these endovascular procedures and building our program upon the hiring of these physicians. The surveyor noted that our program was one of (the) best she has seen and will be sharing a number of our 'best practices' with other stroke centers."
GRANT REQUEST
The grant request "is to build a second interventional radiology procedure room."
"In addition to stroke care, we also perform multiple other non-stroke interventional radiology procedures as well," Harley said.
The second room, she said, "is vital to keep up with our ongoing growth. We also see an aging population in the Mahoning Valley and that has increased the needs for this specialized care in our community."
According to Dr. John Luellen, president of Mercy Health-Lorain and -Youngstown, in December, the funding, which would be provided by the state, would allow Mercy Health to add infrastructure and technology "to care for more patients in need of complex stroke treatments"
The request is part of more than $155.7 million sought from the Appalachian Community Grant Program that would fund dozens of projects across Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties.
The grant application was filed in December. Jim Kinnick, executive director of Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, the lead applicant, said he's hopeful a funding announcement will happen in May.
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