Sun Health Stroke Centers

Sun Health’s Boswell and Sun Health Del E. Webb Hospitals have been categorized as Primary Stroke Centers by the American Stroke Association’s Operation Stroke Initiative and the Arizona Emergency Medical System.

A vital element of the hospitals’ care is an organized Stroke Team available 24 hours a day that begins treating stroke patients immediately. The team adheres to special triage and timeline standards to treat stroke victims quickly and efficiently.

“‘Time loss is brain loss’ is a fact,” says Scott Agran, M. D., interventional neuroradiologist and Sun Health Stroke Team founder. “If help and treatment are sought quickly, the damaging effects of stroke can be significantly diminished and potentially reversed.”

Sun Health Boswell Hospital treats the second-highest number of strokes in the Valley and was among the first Arizona hospitals to administer tPA, a blood-clot-busting drug. If injected within three hours of initial symptoms, the drug, which is the only treatment for acute ischemic stroke, can reduce the chance of more brain damage occurring and can reverse the devastating effects of stroke by restoring blood and oxygen flow.

Sun Health’s hospitals treat stroke patients in dedicated Neurological Care Units staffed with specially trained technologists and nurses. Darry Johnson, M.D., board-certified neurologist, serves as medical director of the neurology care units and is an active member of the Stroke Team. Sun Health Boswell Hospital is also the first west Valley hospital to be equipped with digital video electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring. Both Boswell and Sun Health Del E. Webb Hospitals provide continuous EEG monitoring capabilities to determine if stroke damage is causing a patient to have seizures.

The two hospitals also have comprehensive rehabilitation programs that assist stroke victims in regaining their physical and speech functions. Stroke patients who must learn to do simple things that were once taken for granted are retrained using lifelike settings such as grocery stores, kitchens and laundry facilities – all within the rehabilitation services departments.