Sentara has a strong commitment to stroke care, with our hospitals earning special certifications, including:
- Comprehensive Stroke Center
- Primary Stroke Center
- Primary Plus Stroke Center
- Acute Stroke Ready
DNV-GL Healthcare, part of an international foundation committed to safeguarding life, has accredited our stroke programs. This means we demonstrate exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for our stroke patients.
Our emergency room physicians team with neurologists and board-certified, interventional neuro radiologists to quickly assess and treat stroke symptoms. Improved quality outcomes due to accurate and speedy assessments and administering a medication that dissolves blood clots. It is called a thrombolytic agent or more commonly referred to as the "clot buster". Used to treat ischemic strokes. The sooner the medicine is given the more likely it is to help. Medication can be given within the first 4.5 hours of symptom(s) onset. This type of treatment on ischemic attacks can result in minimizing neurological damage and mortality risks - in effect preserving proper nervous system functions.