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NewYork-Presbyterian, in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), is expanding its fleet of Mobile Stroke Treatment Units (MSTU) to Queens and Brooklyn. Thanks to a generous donation by the W.P. Carey Foundation, this makes NewYork-Presbyterian the first health system in the country to operate three of these advanced units.

The MSTU is an emergency vehicle equipped to provide immediate, specialized care to patients who may be experiencing a stroke. The unit uses advanced telemedicine technology, allowing neurologists from NewYork-Presbyterian’s hospital locations to be consulted remotely and at a moment’s notice.

“We are extremely grateful to our donors for their support in helping us provide life-saving stroke treatment with significantly reduced treatment times to the communities of Queens and Brooklyn,” said Dr. Steven J. Corwin, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian. “NewYork-Presbyterian is proud to be a leader in advanced stroke care by becoming the first to operate three Mobile Stroke Treatment Units.”

Every year, approximately 795,000 people in the United States suffer from a blockage in an artery of the brain, depriving it of blood flow and oxygen, which, over the course of minutes, can lead to disability or death. Stroke is one of the most widespread and debilitating conditions and a leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States.

On April 30, the New York City 911 System via the FDNY began deploying a unit in the community surrounding NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, an ACS Level 1 Trauma Center and certified Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission and by the New York State Department of Health. Beginning May 28, it will deploy a unit in the community surrounding NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, an ACS Level 2 Trauma Center and certified New York State Department of Health Stroke Center. NewYork-Presbyterian launched the city’s first MSTU – and the first of its kind on the East Coast – in October 2016, serving the communities surrounding NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center at East 68^th Street and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center at West 168^th Street.

“Response time is a critical factor in stroke recovery and the Mobile Stroke Treatment Units now have the capacity to help even more patients,” said Dr. Matthew E. Fink, who oversees the MSTU program and is neurologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and chairman of the Department of Neurology and the Louis and Gertrude Feil Professor in Clinical Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “We are bringing the emergency room directly to a patient suffering a stroke. This is a game changer in advanced stroke care.”

“The FDNY is proud to once again partner with NewYork-Presbyterian to integrate two new Mobile Stroke Treatment Units into the 911 system for rapid treatment of patients suffering a stroke,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro. “Our FDNY Paramedics, EMTs and Firefighters will work closely with these units to continue critical pre-hospital care, potentially saving many more lives.”

Each MSTU is staffed by a highly specialized team of two NYP paramedics, certified by the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City, a computed tomography (CT) technologist and a registered nurse. A neurologist is consulted remotely via videoconferencing, an advancement that allows the physician to speak with and view the patient and provide an assessment and recommendations for care. It is designed to significantly reduce the time from the onset of symptoms to the delivery of care, a crucial factor in improving stroke outcomes.

The unit also contains equipment and medications specific to diagnosing and treating strokes, including a medication called tPA, which dissolves the clot and improves blood flow to the part of the brain being deprived of blood in the event of an ischemic stroke. The MSTU also has a portable CT scanner that can image the patient’s brain instantly to detect if the patient is having a stroke. The CT scan is then wirelessly transmitted to a NewYork-Presbyterian neuroradiologist to be promptly evaluated.

During its first year of service, from October 2016 through October 2017, the Manhattan MSTU was deployed 454 times, transported 88 patients and administered tPA 34 times. Since the launch, the MSTU has been able to treat stroke victims approximately 40 minutes faster than a standard ambulance transport.

Once a patient is admitted to the hospital, the MSTU team works to gather pertinent data, including the patient’s outcome after 90 days, the percentage of patients treated by the MSTU who made a full recovery compared with those delivered by standard Emergency Medical Services transport as well as overall cost of care. A larger analysis is currently in progress that will share information from similar units across the United States in order to understand and provide best treatment practices for emergency stroke care.

To learn more about the MSTU, visit: nyp.org/mstu.

NewYork-Presbyterian

NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare delivery systems, whose organizations are dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care and service to patients in the New York metropolitan area, nationally, and throughout the globe. In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research and innovative, patient-centered clinical care.

NewYork-Presbyterian has four major divisions:

• NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is ranked #1 in the New York metropolitan area by U.S. News and World Report and repeatedly named to the Honor Roll of “America’s Best Hospitals.”
• NewYork-Presbyterian Regional Hospital Network comprises hospitals and other facilities in the New York metropolitan region.
• NewYork-Presbyterian Physician Services, which connects medical experts with patients in their communities.
• NewYork-Presbyterian Community and Population Health, encompassing ambulatory care network sites and community healthcare initiatives, including NewYork Quality Care, the Accountable Care Organization jointly established by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia.

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Weill Cornell Medicine

Weill Cornell Medicine is committed to excellence in patient care, scientific discovery and the education of future physicians in New York City and around the world. The doctors and scientists of Weill Cornell Medicine — faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and Weill Cornell Physician Organization—are engaged in world-class clinical care and cutting-edge research that connect patients to the latest treatment innovations and prevention strategies. Located in the heart of the Upper East Side's scientific corridor, Weill Cornell Medicine's powerful network of collaborators extends to its parent university Cornell University; to Qatar, where Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar offers a Cornell University medical degree; and to programs in Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Weill Cornell Medicine faculty provide comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens and NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Weill Cornell Medicine is also affiliated with Houston Methodist. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Columbia University Irving Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, located in Flushing, New York, is a community teaching hospital affiliated with Weill Cornell Medicine, serving Queens and metro New York residents. The 535-bed tertiary care facility provides services in 14 clinical departments and numerous subspecialties.  Annually, 15,000 surgeries and 4,000 infant deliveries are performed at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. With its network of affiliated primary and multispecialty care physician practices and community-based health centers, the hospital provides approximately 162,000 ambulatory care visits and 124,000 emergency service visits annually. For more information, visit nyp.org/queens.

NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital has been providing outstanding medical care to the surrounding communities for over 135 years.  Located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the 591-bed teaching hospital, in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine, provides specialized services in advanced and minimally invasive surgery, neurosciences, orthopedics, digestive and liver disorders, and cancer and cardiac care.  The Hospital’s Emergency Department provides separate areas for adult and pediatric patients, as well as a separate women-only area.  More than 5,000 babies are delivered annually in the Hospital’s Department of Maternal Child Health. The Hospital houses Centers of Excellence for bariatric surgery and breast imaging, a cancer program accredited by the Commission on Cancer, and a New York State-designated stroke center.  NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Regional Hospital Network.  For more information or to find a physician, please call 718-499-2273 or visit nyp.org/brooklyn.