Pictured: The warning signs of stroke.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice was officially designated a Primary Stroke Center this month, a specialty certification that expands SMH’s stroke network and ensures patients have seamless access to the most advanced stroke care on the Suncoast. Certified by DNV GL Healthcare, the Primary Stroke Center designation signifies that SMH-Venice completed a rigorous onsite survey and met or exceeded all requirements established by state regulators and the national accrediting organization for advanced stroke care. SMH-Venice is the third facility in Sarasota Memorial’s acute-care network to earn specialized stroke care designations. SMH-Sarasota is a nationally designated Comprehensive Stroke Center, the highest designation given to regional referral centers for people experiencing highly complex strokes, and its freestanding ER in North Port is designated as an Acute Stroke Ready Center. All three facilities follow the same emergency care protocols to diagnose and stabilize patients experiencing stroke emergencies, with helipads to speed transport time for patients who need to be airlifted from rural or outlying areas that lack the resources to treat stroke patients.

The SMH stroke network also offers the full continuum of stroke care, including inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient rehabilitation programs to help people recover from the effects of a stroke, education and prevention, including an outpatient disease management clinic to help people prevent secondary strokes. That system-of-care approach ensures stroke patients receive the right care at the right time, regardless of which SMH facility initially treats and stabilizes, said vascular neurologist Mauricio Concha, medical director of Sarasota Memorial’s Comprehensive Stroke Center in Sarasota and stroke program in North Port.

Pictured: The warning signs of stroke.

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