WINSTON-SALEM – The North Carolina Stroke Association (NCSA) has awarded Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in Ahoskie one of the first grants as part of its Time is Brain, Time for Change initiative.

Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital is pursuing Acute Stroke Ready certification by the Joint Commission, and the grant from the NC Stroke Association will help fund programs required for certification. The goal of NCSA’s Time is Brain, Time for Change initiative is to ensure that every North Carolinian has access to timely, state-of-the-art stroke care no matter where they happen to be, across the state.

“We are so pleased to provide this funding to Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital,” said NCSA executive director Beth Parks. “It is very important to us to support hospitals who serve the eastern regions of our state, which record some of the highest stroke death rates in the country, yet have significant gaps in access to certified stroke care.”

Statewide, of the 41 hospitals certified as Acute Stroke Ready, Advanced Primary Stroke Care or Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Centers, only five are currently located in the eastern portion of the state.

Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital will use the grant to expand its community education, awareness and stroke screening programs, and underwrite additional education and training for staff and EMS providers as required for certification.

“The journey to certification will most certainly improve the health and well-being for those living in Eastern North Carolina, which is the mission of Vidant Health,” said Judy Bruno, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, Vice President of Patient Care Services, Vidant Roanoke Chowan Hospital. “This will make a difference in the lives of patients and families in need of stroke-related care, with the ultimate goal, being prevention. We are most thankful to the North Carolina Stroke Association for their funding and guidance as Vidant Roanoke Chowan Hospital pursues Acute Stroke Ready Certification.”

In addition to Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital, the NC Stroke Association also awarded a grant to Vidant Chowan Hospital in Edenton. Both hospitals hope to achieve Acute Stroke Ready certification in 2018.

“The NC Stroke Association is working to reduce the disparities in access to certified stroke care across the state,” said Parks. “We will continue to raise monies for the Time is Brain, Time for Change initiative so that we can support more hospitals in pursuing Acute Stroke Ready certification, and realize our vision of every stroke patient in our state receiving timely access to stroke care.”

The North Carolina Stroke Association is a 501 (c) 3 organization founded in 1998 by a group of physicians and lay people who saw the need to address the state’s increasing prevalence of stroke and its attendant disabilities. With operational seed money from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, NCSA began to fulfill its mission to reduce the incidence and impact of stroke in North Carolina through collaborations to facilitate screening, education, outcome assessments and advocacy. For more information, visit www.ncstroke.org.