LAKEPORT >> Whenever a stroke occurs to a person, the speed of detection and intervention are critical in achieving an optimum outcome. The Sutter Lakeside Hospital tool kit has been bolstered with advanced gear that can make a difference in a victim’s survival and standard of recovery which dramatically elevates by just cutting minutes from a time of arrival to administering care.
Leading a tour through Lakesides’ imaging lab, Kayla Gondolfi, Sutter Health stroke coordinator noted, since 2023, the time from a stroke victim’s arrival to diagnosis has been cut from 76 to 37 minutes.
Earlier this week, the Record Bee was alerted by Ashley Boarman, media relations program manager, Sutter wanted to share two exciting tech developments at Lakeside Hospital that are “wins” for the community. Boarman announced the arrival of; Rapid AI: “The hospital has now integrated advanced Artificial Intelligence, the system beginning operations just in February, to help doctors diagnose strokes faster, meaning treatment can start right away. The quicker a person receives clot-busting treatment, the better their chances of surviving without lasting effects like problems with speech, movement or brain function.”
Also, the implementation of the Telestroke Program, which was acquired in summer of 2024. On top of using Rapid AI, “Sutter Lakeside is now connected to Sutter’s Telestroke network,” Boarman disclosed. This means doctors here can quickly consult with stroke specialists from other Sutter hospitals. “It’s kind of like FaceTiming a family member, but with life-saving expertise on the other end,” Boarman added. It’s a game-changer for getting high-quality care in a timely manner, especially in a rural area like Lakeport where neuro specialists are not immediately available.”
Dr. Kevin Attenhofer is a neurologist in San Francisco. He noted what Sutter is doing with Telestroke program, and its integrated technology is bringing the skills set and tools they use in advance centers, which are now in place in San Francisco and Sacramento and bringing those same tools to the Lakeport Community via Sutter Lakeside Hospital through this advanced technology. “I can do everything for a patient in the ER at Lakeside that I can do as if I walked downstairs at my house,” he said. His hospital, California Pacific Medical Center, is staffed with stroke doctors and critical care doctors.
“These are different doctors from different practices within the Sutter Network who have gotten together to create a unified service that provides 24/7 care to patients in Lake County and all the peripheral counties and what we’re able to do is, when a patient arrives in the ER, usually in less than five minutes, we are able to be on the screen and interacting with a patients. We get to see the patient, get a medical history and have RNs at bedside who are familiar and trained using this new video technology allowing us to perform an assessment and make decisions in the patient’s room (at Lakeside), even though I’m in San Francisco.”
Doctors need to know what is going on in that patient’s brain and they obtain the data from the patient himself or his family who stand in his hospital room. Yet instead, they now rely upon the imagery transmitted by the Rapid AI and podcast over Telestroke in real time which allows doctors like Attenhofer to see that information as the data is being acquired. “I can see it on my computer, on my phone, (as) a text message or my email, if the AI has a potential problem, so we’re being notified in real time- I ‘m effectively in the room with the patient in Lakeside,” he explained.
Dr. Tim Stephens, Lakeside CEO, noted with these new tools at their disposal, Sutter Health allows the hospital to have access to expertise and technology that they would not necessarily be able to have. “I feel specialists like Dr. Attenhofer are very limited in the U.S. But this technology allows us to do this- a bedside cure for patients without having a patient go to San Francisco. “These resources for small community hospitals are not available without partnerships such as the Sutter Health network,” he said. “One thing helps rapid transmission of this data. The CT scan has a couple of thousand slices of zooming and the AI can do that really quickly. Pulling data out of it is an important aspect of it. There’s probably only 10% of hospitals in the U.S. that have this level of remote care.”
Attenhofer went on that a lot of strokes are closely related to heart disease so, a lot of recommendations to avoid stroke is to guard against heart disease. “I explain to a patient, there is a lot to be said for a low salt diet, low cholesterol diet and the Mediterranean diet,” he recalled. The Mediterranean diet is highly regarded. It uses a lot of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, olive oil and avoiding highly processed foods. He advised doing regular exercise, even if it is just going for a walk.
A most proactive way to avoid stroke, is regularly seeing your own physician advised Attenhofer. “Most people have an underlying chronic issue, whether it is obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol or cardiac disease,” he said. “Do Something about it. Age is a risk factor that we can’t change. Females have a higher risk factor. Estrogen carries a stroke factor. But weight, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking, you can do something. If you do something before stroke, you reduce risk of stroke.”
