Providence Holy Cross Hospital has been named a Comprehensive Stroke Center, officials said.

Beginning Friday, paramedics identifying severe stroke symptoms in patients they are transporting in the northeastern San Fernando Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley are expected to head straight to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, according to Providence officials.

The Mission Hills hospital was designated, effective today, 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.

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