Comprehensive Stroke Center
As a certified Comprehensive Stroke Center, EvergreenHealth Neuroscience Institute meets the highest national standards for stroke care. Our emergency and hospital teams are trained on the BE FAST stroke warning signs and equipped to offer care immediately when you arrive. Successful stroke care involves many hospital departments, all working together according to our stroke care protocol.
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BE FAST: Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of a Stroke
A stroke occurs when there is a blockage of blood and oxygen to the brain, which can kill or damage brain cells. Symptoms include sudden numbness or confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding speech, dizziness or lack of coordination, trouble seeing, and a sudden severe headache with no apparent cause.
If you or a loved one are at risk of stroke, there are signs you can watch out for to help you respond as quickly as possible before first responders arrive. A good rule to follow when diagnosing a possible stroke is BE FAST: Balance, Eyes, Face, Arms, Speech and Time. If you suspect someone is experiencing a stroke, take these steps:
- Balance: Sudden loss of balance
- Eyes: Sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes
- 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: When repeating a simple phrase, is their speech slurred or strange?
- Time: If you observe any of these signs, call 911 immediately.
Treatment for all Phases of Recovery
When a patient arrives at the EvergreenHealth Emergency Department with a suspected stroke, a team of emergency physicians, neurologists, radiologists, hospitalists and nurses spring into action.
Depending on the stroke team's findings, they can offer a number of possible treatments including clot-busting drugs and minimally-invasive procedures guided by advanced imaging.
Learn more about diagnosing and treating stroke.
Once a stroke patient has been treated and stabilized, their recovery will begin in one of our stroke units – either the critical care or progressive care unit. There, they are closely monitored by our team of neurologists, hospitalists and nurses, all with extensive training in stroke care.
They work together with the rehabilitation staff, social workers and discharge planning nurses to manage each stroke patient's care, from monitoring vital signs and neurological status in order to prevent complications, to providing the education needed about medications, risk factor management, diet and lifestyle changes to prevent secondary strokes.
Our rehabilitation specialists begin working with stroke patients as soon as they're stable, improving their chances for a positive outcome. Rehab staff will also continue to work with patients after they are discharged.
Learn more about Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation
Patients who need more close medical monitoring before being discharged home may be admitted to the medical center's Acute Rehabilitation Unit, where they can receive intensive rehabilitation in a home-like environment.
Learn more about the Acute Rehabilitation Unit
After going home, stroke patients can continue their therapy on an outpatient basis through EvergreenHealth Rehabilitation Services, with the goal of returning to work, school and community activities.
Learn more about Outpatient Rehabilitation Care
Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification
EvergreenHealth stroke services is recognized as a Comprehensive Stroke Center with certification from DNV Healthcare, which means we meet the highest national standards for stroke care. EvergreenHealth's stroke team is one of the few Comprehensive Stroke Centers in Washington state certified by DNV.
EvergreenHealth also received the 2025 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for the ninth year in a row. This recognizes our stroke program's commitment and success in providing excellent care to stroke patients – care that provides better outcomes and a higher quality of life.
As part of our commitment to stroke care, all of our emergency and hospitalist physicians have obtained specialized training from the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Certification Program. Emergency department and stroke unit nurses receive annual stroke education to keep updated on the latest guidelines in stroke care.
