As of Friday, Jan. 10, paramedics identifying severe stroke symptoms in patients they are transporting in the northeastern San Fernando Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley can now head straight to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

The Mission Hills hospital was designated, effective Friday, as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by Los Angeles County’s Emergency Medical Services Agency. The designation indicates a high level of specialized care, including advanced treatment.

Providence Holy Cross specialists are expert in thrombectomy – a minimally invasive procedure to remove blood clots from the brain.

Paramedics who recognize patients with symptoms of severe stroke bypass other hospitals to get to comprehensive centers. Patients are cared for quickly, limiting the possibility of permanent deficits resulting from major strokes.

Additionally, Holy Cross provides a critical care ambulance to pick up patients at hospitals without this high level of expertise. A nurse aboard the ambulance provides treatment en route to Mission Hills.

Holy Cross was certified last summer as “thrombectomy-capable” by DNV Healthcare, and neurosurgeons have performed 10 of the procedures since then on patients who were brought to the hospital by private parties.

With the new designation, the hospital joins an elite group of health care organizations focused on highly-specialized stroke care. To be eligible, hospitals must demonstrate compliance with stroke-related standards as primary stroke centers and meet additional requirements, including those related to advanced imaging capabilities, 24/7 availability of specialized treatments and staff provided with the unique education and competencies to care for complex stroke cases.

Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

About Providence Health & Services
Providence Health & Services, Southern California, is a Catholic not-for-profit, mission-driven healthcare system. Providence Southern California operates six award-winning hospitals and a comprehensive, fully-integrated network of primary care clinics, urgent care centers, home care, TrinityCare and TrinityKids Care hospice as well as Providence High School. Providence is anchored locally by Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Providence Tarzana Medical Center and Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro. With more than 3,400 physicians, Providence provides coordinated primary and specialty care through an array of physician groups and individual providers including Providence Medical Institute and physician groups in the South Bay, the West Valley and Santa Clarita. Providence affiliate, Facey Medical Group, provides primary and specialized care in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys and Simi Valley. For more information, visit California.providence.org