Stroke Care & Stroke Treatment Services
Our Stroke Team is On-Call & Ready to Act Fast
Stroke Program: 626-898-8861
USC Arcadia Hospital is a DNV GL certified Comprehensive Stroke Center
that offers many treatment options for the care of patients with acute
stroke. Our program has achieved vast recognition for the excellent outcomes
and care of our stroke patients. USC Arcadia Hospital is also currently
designated by Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services as one of
24 Comprehensive Stroke Centers serving the region.
Our multidisciplinary Stroke Team comprised of Neurologists, Neurosurgeons,
Interventional-Radiologists, Neuro-Interventionalists, Critical Care Intensivists,
Emergency Physicians, Radiologist, Pharmacists, Nurses, and support staff
are ready to care for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our program offers
many educational resources, an outpatient Stroke Support Group, and top
of the line tools including a new Biplane for Neuro-Intervention.
Our Neuro-Interventionalists are ready to serve you with various treatment
options for acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, and in the detection
and prevention of stroke. We utilize minimally invasive emergency procedures
that do not require long prep time and drastically improve the patient
outcomes by reducing mortality and morbidity. Our Neurologists and Interventionalists
are Board Certified and have vast experience in performing mechanical
thrombectomy, brain diagnostic angiography, clot extractions in stroke
patients, coiling for aneurysms, tumor embolization’s, and vascular stenting.
The first few minutes of a stroke are the most important, and when you
or someone you love is having a stroke, you cannot afford to hesitate.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. The USC
Arcadia Hospital Comprehensive Stroke Program provides the people of LA
County a highly-skilled team of stroke experts to ensure every minute counts.
Signs & Symptoms of Stroke and TIA
Stroke has many signs and symptoms. The symptoms are usually
sudden. The most common ones are:
- Confusion
- Facial droop
- Blurred or double vision
- One-sided weakness
- One-sided numbness
- Severe headache
- Slurred speech, incomprehensible speech
- Trouble walking
- Dizziness
Call 911 immediately if you experience any of these symptoms.

Recovering from a Stroke
Numerous studies have shown that a dedicated stroke center provides a higher
level of care to patients and increases their chances of recovery and
rehabilitation.
Recovery from stroke may sometimes be a lifelong process. With this in
mind, USC Arcadia Hospital stroke specialists are here to support you
during the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery process. Whether you or
your loved one just had a stroke or are at high risk for developing one,
we are here to help you understand your condition and help you take action
to reduce your chances of having another stroke in the future. Understanding
your condition and how to manage it can increase your confidence in making
changes to improve and maintain your health.
Stroke Program Milestones and Successes
The USC Arcadia Hospital multidisciplinary Stroke Team is committed to
delivering quality care according to nationally recognized clinical care
process improvement guidelines. By complying with these processes, USC
Arcadia Hospital improves outcomes for patients treated in our hospital
and helps to reduce patients' risks for another adverse event requiring
emergency care or hospitalization.
We are proud to report that our compliance rates are at or above the national
safety standard and meet or exceed the American Heart Association / American
Stroke Association's "Get with the Guidelines" performance targets.
Our Stroke Program has achieved many program milestones and successes during
the past decade. USC Arcadia Hospital’s commitment to providing
quality care by implementing a higher standard of stroke care, according
to evidence-based guidelines, is reflected in several awards granted by
the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
USC Arcadia Hospital has achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all
Get With The Guidelines Stroke Performance Achievement indicators for
nine consecutive years. The hospital has achieved 75 percent or higher
compliance with 8 of 8 Get With The Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures,
which are designed to improve the quality of patient care and outcomes.
The Target Stroke Elite Plus award reflects the institution's achievement
of treating 85 percent of stroke patients with a clot-busting drug within
60 minutes of arrival and meeting all stroke performance metrics. USC
Arcadia Hospital's tPA door to treatment average was 38.5 minutes in 2022.
Our Quality Statistics
These metrics provide information about important aspects of hospital care
that affect patients’ outcomes such as prevention of and response
to complications, emphasis on patient safety, and the timeliness of care.
- Compliance with the American Heart Association's "Get with the
Guidelines" performance measures at or above 85 percent: better than
the national benchmark.
- Serious complication rates for diagnostic angiograms are less than 1 percent:
better than the national benchmark.
- Survival rates for stroke patients are above the national average.
- Stroke Treatment Process Measures
The USC Arcadia Hospital Stroke Team closely monitors compliance with processes
of care as endorsed by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association
in order to provide consistent care across all stroke care measures and
achieve quality outcomes. Hospitals are asked to achieve 85% compliance
in all of the measures below in order to meet the award recognition criteria.
USC Arcadia Hospital exceeds the requirements in all of these areas:
- Percentage of Stroke Patients who received VTE prophylaxis 97.2%
- Percentage of Stroke Patients Discharged on Antithrombotics: 100%
- Percentage of Stroke Patients with Atrial Fibrillation discharged on Anticoagulation
Therapy: 100%
- Percentage of Stroke Patients for whom Tissue Plasminogen Activator (t-PA)
was given within the treatment window 100%
- Percentage of Stroke Patients Receiving Antithrombotic Medication within
48 Hours of Hospitalization: 98.7%
- Percentage of Stroke Patients Screened for Dysphagia: 97%
- Percentage of Stroke Patients who received Stroke Education: 100%
- Percentage of Stroke Patients for whom a Plan for Rehabilitation was Considered: 100%
Our Stroke Program Meets and Exceeds Clinical Practice Guidelines for Administration
of IV Alteplase (tPA)
Clinical practice guidelines recommend that hospitals administer a type
of clot-busting medicine called tPA (Tissue Plasminogen Activator) to
eligible ischemic stroke patients within 60 minutes or less of arrival.
USC Arcadia Hospital has been recognized by the American Heart Association
and American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) for successfully administering
thrombolytic therapy (tPA) within 60 minutes in 100 percent or more of
eligible acute ischemic stroke patients. The USC Arcadia Hospital stroke
program received the Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll and the Target:
Stroke Elite Honor Roll awards in 2017, 2018, and 2019 for meeting and
exceeding established AHA/ASA guidelines. In 2021, the stroke program
will receive the Target Stroke Gold Plus Honor Roll for Stroke and Type
2 Diabetes for the consecutive year.
Successfully Treating Ischemic Strokes with Endovascular Procedures
Ischemic strokes are caused by a blockage in one of the arteries that supply
blood to the brain. Patients with evidence of a blockage in one of the
major blood vessels in their brain, who present within 24 hours from the
onset of their stroke, can be treated with a catheter-based approach.
The clot is captured and removed from the artery with the catheter. This
endovascular treatment immediately restores blood flow.
Many hospitals use a scale called thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (TICI)
to evaluate the success of endovascular treatments. The more open a blood
vessel is following treatment, the more easily blood can flow through it.
In 2015, the Endovascular Stroke Standards Committee of the Society of
Vascular and Interventional Neurology established the following national
benchmark for hospitals: At least 50 percent of ischemic stroke patients
who undergo endovascular treatment must achieve a TICI grade of “2b”
or higher. This means the vessel completely fills with blood, even though
the rate of blood flow may be slower than normal. USC Arcadia Hospital
exceeded this goal, achieving TICI scores of 2b or higher among 94 percent
of patients treated with endovascular procedures.
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For more information on our Stroke Program, contact our team directly at
626-898-8861.