YNHH marks Stroke Awareness Month

Yale New Haven Hospital is marking 10 years as a Joint Commission Primary Stroke Center with events this month, Stroke Awareness Month.

During the week of May 5, a Joint Commission consultant visited the York Street and Saint Raphael campuses to review YNHH Stroke Center activities and provide recommendations on achieving Comprehensive Stroke Center status from the Brain Attack Coalition. The coalition is a group of professional, voluntary and governmental entities dedicated to reducing stroke occurrence, disabilities and death. YNHH meets criteria to apply for comprehensive status, which designates facilities that care for multiple complex stroke patients.

The hospital will undergo a Joint Commission stroke-specific certification site visit by the end of summer. All hospital employees have been assigned a HealthStream stroke awareness module to ensure everyone knows common stroke symptoms, the importance of calling 911 from home (or 155 at the hospital) and strategies for reducing stroke risk.

Also this month, the Stroke Center is hosting information tables at both campuses. On Thursday, May 21, 10 am - 2 pm, second floor of the YSC Atrium, center staff will provide information about primary and secondary stroke prevention, and practitioners can learn about the newly revised swallow protocol, the hospital's standard dysphagia assessment. On Thursday, May 28, 10 am - 2 pm, SRC cafeteria, members of the Stamp Out Stroke team will perform stroke risk screenings.