Dean & St. Mary's Stroke Center provides the full range of services designed to improve outcomes for patients and families who are experiencing, or have experienced, a stroke. A dedicated center provides an approach to rapid assessment, diagnostic evaluation, acute management, and rehabilitative efforts to meet the needs of every patient who comes to us for care. In October 2007, Dean & St. Mary's Stroke Center became the first certified Primary Stroke Center in south-central Wisconsin, dedicated to improving clinical outcomes for patients receiving specialized stroke care. An even higher level of expertise was acknowledged in 2010 and 2012 when The Joint Commission awarded its two-year recertification, congratulating the center on enhanced interventional radiology capabilities, including the new MERCI Retriever System for extracting blood clots from the brain of patients experiencing a certain type of stroke.

Stroke Prevention and Education
The Stroke Center provides a stroke prevention program for the community which includes education about the signs and symptoms of stroke , risk factors associated with stroke, and initiatives to provide primary and secondary prevention of stroke.

Act FAST to Learn the Warning Signs of Stroke

FACE:  Ask the person to smile.
Does one side of the face droop?

ARMS:  Ask the person to raise both arms.
Does one arm drift downward?

SPEECH:  Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase.
Is their speech slurred or strange?

TIME:  If you observe any of these signs,
call 9-1-1 immediately. 

 National Stroke Association

Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
St. Mary's Hospital partners with the Dane County EMS to facilitate the accurate and rapid recognition of patients with acute stroke symptoms and to promote rapid transport of patients to the emergency department. 

Emergency Stroke Treatment
Because the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms are critically important, St. Mary's emergency department staff are skilled at immediately determining the best treatment plan by rapid diagnosis and treatment for patients who suffer a stroke 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using diagnostic services, including CT (computed tomography) scans, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), as well as providing state of the art care with clot-busting medication.

Award Winning Care
Dean & St. Mary’s Stroke Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the Center’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations. To receive the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award, Dean & St. Mary’s Stroke Center achieved at least 12 consecutive months of 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Achievement indicators and achieved at least 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures during that same period of time, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.

Acute Stroke Treatment
When patients have suffered a stroke, specialized care continues in our Neuroscience Intermediate Care unit or our Neuroscience Intensive Care unit. Nurses in these units have expertise in neurological assessments and provide comprehensive care and education to patient’s and their families.

Stroke Rehabilitation
Stroke Rehabilitation begins early in the patient's recovery. A dedicated rehabilitation team consists of physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and social workers. Each patient’s rehabilitation plan is individualized to help patients and their families achieve the best possible outcome and quality of life.

According to the American Stroke Association, about 700,000 Americans per year suffer a new or recurrent stroke, and strokes are the No. 3 cause of death behind diseases of the heart and cancer. When a stroke occurs, it is critical to identify the symptoms and get treatment as quickly as possible to improve the chances of recovery.