Strong Memorial Hospital was recognized by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association as a Comprehensive Stroke Center on Jan. 17. This appointment will certify Strong as one of the country’s leading centers for highly-specialized comprehensive stroke care.
A Comprehensive Stroke Center designation is given to care centers that have the best quality of care given and services provided to even the most severely afflicted stroke patients.
Only two other hospitals in the State of New York have been given this distinction.
Strong also launched a new program that provides intensive and utmost care to patients affected with severe neurological disorders.
This program involves a key concept, called “neurocritical care.” Relatively new in the medical field, its focus is on in-depth care of severe neurological diseases such as strokes or swelling of the brain. Physicians trained in this field are called neurointensivists and often undergo rigorous training in multiple fields such as neurology, neurosurgery, and anesthesiology.
The team is ready to treat and/or operate at a moment’s notice. The hospital provides 24-hour availability of intensive neurological care.
Strong Memorial Hospital went through a rigorous review last semester in which they brought new additions to the center. Two new doctors were also hired as part of the review, Neurologist Manjunath Markandaya, M.B.B.S. and Amrendra Singh Miranpuri, M.D. The two physicians had the training and skills that allowed Strong to establish the program.
With the new program, a new Neuromedicine Intensive Care Unit (ICU) will open in summer 2014 and be made up of 12 beds. This unit will be the only ICU in this region providing 24-hour neurocritical care.
Kanakam is a member of the class of 2017.