Opening a dedicated Acute Stroke Unit at Windsor Regional Hospital's Ouellette Campus is expected to continue improvements in care across the region.
A Stroke Report Card for the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network shows the number of stroke patients treated during their hospital stay within the LHIN has increased from 18% in 2014/15 to 36% in 2015/16. Many of those patients would have been transferred to units outside Windsor-Essex in the past.
Service was evaluated by the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the Ontario Stroke Network.
Other improvements include faster administration of the clot-busting drug tPA. The report card says patients who were eligible for the treatment received it within 63 minutes of arrival at the hospital.
Patients are also leaving the hospital within the period targeted by the LHIN.
"Our inter-professional team has made great strides in meeting best practice length of stay targets for our stroke population," says Janice Kaffer, the President and CEO at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
The new unit in Windsor only opened in April, and early results were not included in the report card, but it is expected to improve results as the program matures.
Once patients are discharged from the unit at the Ouellette Campus, they receive rehabilitative care at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. Erie Shores HealthCare, formerly known at Leamington District Memorial Hospital, also assists with inpatient rehab services for patients living in the county.
"The partnership between the organizations has been a huge benefit for all stroke patients," says the Acting CEO at Erie Shores HealthCare, Sue Gibson. "Erie Shores HealthCare is able to bring patients, whose residence is located in the Erie Shores region, improved access to rehabilitation closer to home and closer to their families."