St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC), a member of Dignity Health, is the first in Ventura County and one in 45 hospitals nationally to achieve the Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Certification from The Joint Commission, in collaboration with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA).
“St. John’s Stroke Center is excited to earn the distinction as a Joint Commission certified Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center. This speaks to the dedication and quality of our multidisciplinary team to provide state-of-the art care to our patients,” said St. John’s Medical Director of the Primary Stroke Center, Mani Nezhad, MD. “We are committed to ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate stroke treatment, and are dedicated to elevating the level of services offered to those patients.”
This certification signifies that SJRMC met rigorous standards for performing mechanical endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), a specialized surgical procedure used to remove a blood clot from the brain during an ischemic stroke. These types of strokes are treatable if a patient gets to a center that has the ability and team to provide mechanical thrombectomy (clot retrieval).
“This accreditation demonstrates to our community that our hospital is focused on the highest standards of care,” said Darren Lee, President and CEO of St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital and St. John’s Regional Medical Center. “We are proud to be the only stroke center in Ventura County with this elite certification.”
To be eligible for the certification, the hospital was required to meet strict guidelines that include performing EVT on a minimum of 15 patients in the past year, or 30 patients in the past two years, and the capability to perform EVT around the clock, seven days a week.
The hospital’s primary neurointerventionists—the physicians who routinely perform emergency mechanical thrombectomy—also must meet the highest standards of subspecialty training.
The stroke program was also recently honored with the 2019 Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Awards for the third consecutive year, and earned a spot on the Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. The comprehensive stroke program features: immediate access to stroke care neurologists within minutes of arrival in our emergency department, a dedicated team composed of stroke neurologist, neurosurgeons, neurointerventionalists, neurocritical care specialists, neuroradiologists, anesthesiologists, and stroke nurse practitioners, an acute stroke team, quick turnaround times for CT scans and lab results to improve timeliness of treatment
For more information about St. John’s Stroke Center, please visit DignityHealth.org/StJohnsRegional. To learn more about the TSC certification program, visit JointCommission.org.
About Dignity Health – St. John’s Regional Medical Center:
St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard is a recipient of the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence (2012-2015) and is rated among America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care for five consecutive years. St. John’s Regional Medical Center’s cardiac program offers effective treatment for heart disease as a STEMI Receiving Center, world-class clinical research trials, a certified primary stroke center, and recently became the first hospital in California to offer the world’s smallest leadless pacemaker for patients with bradycardia – slow heart rate. In addition, St. John’s was the first and only hospital in Ventura County to perform cryoablation, an innovative procedure to treat atrial fibrillation – a common heart rhythm disorder. St. John’s Cancer Program is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and offers a lung cancer program recognized as the only Center of Excellence in Ventura County. The 16-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. John’s provides family centered care for newborns requiring highly specialized attention. Learn more about other classes, events and support groups at DignityHealth.org/StJohnsRegional/Classes-and-Events
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