Columbia Memorial begins full time stroke and neurological care program
"Time saved is brain saved," says Dr. Samuel Koszer, echoing a national mantra which urges people with signs of stroke to get to a hospital immediately.
And that hospital is now Columbia Memorial in Hudson where Koszer’s group, eRiver Neurology, has established a 24 hour, seven day a week
neurological care center. Three neurologists will staff the center. Hospital staff will also have teleconferencing consulting
access to the other physicians at eRiver’s headquarters in Poughkeepsie.
According to hospital CEO Jane Ehrlich, “eRiver physicians are regional experts in epilepsy, pediatric neurology and stroke care.”
Koszer will be assisted at Columbia Memorial’s Emergency Department and at the group’s offices in the Medical Office Building, by Samuel
Apeatu, MD, and Alexandr Safarov, MD. Dr. Apeatu is board certified in pediatric neurology and in behavioral and neurological developmental
disorders. Dr. Safarov is board certified in adult neurology and clinical neurophysiology.
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America and the number one cause of adult disability. According to Koszer, MANY strokes are
preventable, but only 2% of the people eligible for acute stroke care make it to the hospital to get a new drug, Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA), he says.
"TPA is a clot buster. There is a critical three hour window within which administering the drug can save patients from major brain damage and resulting damage to speech, movement and memory,” says Koszer.
A stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery or a blood vessel breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain. When either of these things happen, brain cells begin to die and brain damage occurs. TPA can dramatically improve the outcome of a stroke survivor says Koszer.
"As part of our efforts at Columbia Memorial we are trying to educate people in the area to the signs of stroke: numbness of the face, arm
or leg on one side of the body; confusion, difficulty seeing with one or both eyes, difficulty walking, dizziness; or severe headache with no known cause.”
"We are very pleased to be associated with Columbia Memorial,” says Koszer. “The hospital is a jewel, rising in stature in the level of quality care it delivers,” he says.
"We are pleased to have eRiver neurology working at Columbia Memorial,” echoed hospital CEO Jane Ehrlich.
"Their physicians deliver the quality of care one expects to find at larger hospitals. And because Columbia Memorial is so centrally located
for the Columbia and Greene county areas, we can dramatically improve the outcomes of a stroke survivor,” said Ehrlich.
eRiver Neurology Director, Samuel Koszer, M.D.
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