University of Kansas Hospital wins stroke center designation

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The University of Kansas Hospital is the first in the midwest and one of five nationwide to receive an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center designation. 

Autumn MorningSky

Web Producer- Kansas City Business Journal

Email  | @amorningskyKCBJ

The Joint Commission on Monday recognized The University of Kansas Hospital as an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center. It is the only hospital in the Midwest and one of five nationwide to receive the designation.

“We’re honored to be one of the first in the country to achieve this significant designation,” KU Hospital CEO Bob Page said in a release. “It means our patients can expect to receive the same kind of extraordinary stroke care they would receive at the best-known facilities in the country.”

The hospital met certain requirements to achieve the label, according to a Monday release, including the following:

• Neuro-intensive-care unit beds for complex stroke patients who receive continuous neuro-critical care.

• Advanced imaging capabilities.

• Care for at least 20 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhages; perform at least 15 endovascular coiling or surgical clipping procedures for aneurysm; administer IV tPA to an average of 25 or more patients.

• Coordinate post-hospital care for patients

• Participate in stroke research

“The higher standards of the CSC designation indicate that our hospital can assist all stroke patients and is better prepared — with state-of-the-art equipment, infrastructure, staff and training — to diagnose and treat patients with the most complex strokes,” Colleen Lechtenberg, stroke program medical director at KU Hospital, said in the release.

The honor is The Joint Commission’s newest level of certification. The commission recognized the hospital as a primary stroke center in 2006.

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