Eleven years later, Swedish Medical Center continues to provide "exemplary care" as Comprehensive Stroke Center
March 18, 2024
February 2024 marked Swedish Medical Center’s 11th year as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, the highest level of stroke certification that hospitals can receive.
Only those hospitals that have the advanced technology, staff, and training needed to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases, including intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH) and subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH), are named Comprehensive Stroke Centers.
The stroke program at Swedish, which is accredited by the prestigious Joint Commission, is managed by a 26-member team of Blue Sky Neurology clinicians.
“Since our initial certification, we have continued to grow; we have developed and fully staffed our neurocritical care unit and have a newly opened neurology step-down unit,” said Blue Sky’s Russell Bartt, MD, who is the Stroke Medical Director at Swedish. “Literally thousands of patients with stroke have been cared for by our physicians, our stroke coordinators, our neuroradiologists, techs, nurses, therapists, and medical colleagues. I am so grateful for the dedication of the entire institution to the care of our patients.”
When Swedish received the certification in February 2013, it was the first and only Comprehensive Stroke Center in Colorado and just the 14th in the nation. As of 2022, there were only 297 comprehensive stroke centers in the U.S.
“Our new designation acknowledges the exemplary care we have provided to patients in Colorado and the region for years,” Blue Sky Medical Director Chris Fanale, MD, said in 2013. “This is a true example of collaboration and innovation. We have the most outstanding team and technology this region has to offer.”
Eleven years later, exemplary care continues to be provided by Blue Sky clinicians to patients in Colorado and beyond. Since 2013, more than 14,000 stroke patients have been cared for at Swedish by Blue Sky physicians and advanced practice providers.
“We are continually evolving in how we take care of our patients,” Dr. Bartt said. “We take pride in our use of the latest science and treatments in the field and our participation in research studies to help move the field forward.”
The Blue Sky clinicians who make up the stroke team at Swedish are Maysun Ali, DO; Trevor Barton, DO; Dr. Bartt; Alicia Bennett, DO; Christian Burrell, MD; Ira Chang, MD; Ravi Chilukuri, MD; Kathryn Chubrilo, MD; Cynthia Dickerson, DO; Celeste Dolan, MD; Dr. Fanale; Adam Graham, MD; Judd Jensen, MD; Kourosh Kahkeshani, DO; Inhyup Kim, MD; Jonathan Kleinman, MD; Emily Lampe, MD; Lauren Middleton, DO; Zach Norman, MD; Byron Spencer, MD; Alexis Taylor, MD; Lionel Thomas, DO; Jeffrey Wagner, MD; Jennifer Eaton, PA-C; Ryan Fay, PA; and Crystal Jones, NP.
