About Stroke Services

Greenwich Hospital Stroke Center
The Greenwich Hospital Stroke Center offers a comprehensive and coordinated program committed to providing rapid, advanced and compassionate neurological care to stroke patients and their families.

Available round-the-clock, the specially trained interdisciplinary team includes neurologists, emergency medicine physicians, radiologists, nurses, clinical pharmacists, emergency medical technicians, rehabilitation therapists, speech pathologists and others. Greenwich Hospital was the first healthcare facility in Fairfield County to earn national certification as a stroke center from the Joint Commission, ensuring patients receive the highest standard of care and the latest treatment protocols to minimize long term disability and save lives.

Greenwich Hospital also offers an array of rehabilitation, speech, support and community education services to assist stroke survivors and their families during the recovery and rehabilitation process.

What is a Stroke?
There are two types of strokes or “brain attacks” (ischemic and hemorrhagic), each requiring different treatment options.

Eighty-five percent of all strokes are ischemic strokes caused by a blood clot. Ischemic strokes can be treated effectively with clot-busting drugs that must be administered within three hours of the start of symptoms. The hospital strives to administer this life-saving medication within one hour of the patient’s arrival.

Hemorrhagic strokes are caused by weakened vessels that rupture and bleed into the brain. These require specialized medical or surgical interventions.

A transient ischemic attack (TIA)—sometimes called a mini-stroke—can be the prelude to a full-blown stroke. Studies show patients have a 15 percent risk of experiencing a major stroke within days after a TIA. Never ignore TIA symptoms, which can be temporary or fleeting. Early detection can lead to immediate diagnosis and treatment.

Stroke Warning Signs
Immediately call 911 if you experience:

• sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• sudden trouble speaking or understanding
• sudden vision problems in one or both eyes
• sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination
• sudden severe headache with no known cause

Call 911
Greenwich Emergency Medical Services, the Port Chester-Rye Brooke-Rye Emergency Medical Service and others are separate organizations that work closely with stroke specialists in the hospital’s Emergency Department. Immediately call 911 the moment you suspect symptoms of stroke. Emergency medical personnel are in direct communication with hospital staff and are specially trained to assess stroke victims and begin treatment. Ambulances carry equipment capable of transmitting crucial cardiac information directly to hospital staff, which can activate a stroke alert.

What Happens When You Arrive
By the time patients arrive at the Emergency Department, the stroke alert team has been mobilized and a neurologist is waiting to examine the patient. Patients undergo a computed tomography scan (which provides a picture of the brain within minutes) to determine if bleeding exists in the brain. An absence of bleeding in the brain indicates the presence of an ischemic stroke, paving the way for patients to receive clot-busting drugs. Stroke victims stay in the hospital’s intensive care unit for observation. Patients may continue their recovery at a rehabilitation center, a sub-acute center, an outpatient rehabilitation facility, or at home with the assistance of a home healthcare provider.

Rehabilitation Medicine
Patients who suffered a stroke have the potential for recovery depending on the location of the lesion and the extent of the brain damage. During hospitalization, physical and occupational therapists meet with patients to assess needs and recommend services.

Hearing and Speech Center
Speech pathologists evaluate and treat patients with communication (aphasia) and swallowing (dysphagia) problems. An x-ray study called a modified barium swallow can identify the cause and treatment for swallowing difficulties.