FOR RELEASE:
March 24, 2011
Catawba Valley Medical Center Receives Grant From North Carolina Stroke
Care Collaborative;
Stroke Program and Speech-Language Pathology Departments Recognized
HICKORY, NC –Catawba Valley Medical Center’s Stroke Program
and Speech-Language Pathology Department have been awarded a $15,000 grant
from the North Carolina Stroke Care Collaborative/Coverdell Registry.
The goals of the North Carolina Stroke Care Collaborative are to evaluate
the current state of stroke in North Carolina, facilitate quality of stroke
care improvements in North Carolina hospitals, and build a foundation
for statewide stroke registry.
Dysphagia is a commonly documented morbidity after stroke, affecting up
to 50 percent of patients with stroke. Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP)
manage patients with dysphagia (swallowing disorders) post stroke. CVMC
currently provides quality dysphagia services for stroke patients by offering
clinical swallowing evaluations, modified barium swallowing studies, and
fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) exams, as well as
dysphagia treatment options. Objective data gathered from a variety of
instrumentation can assist SLPs in the evaluation and treatment of stroke
patients with dysphagia.
“One of the goals of the grant, in addition to improved quality of
swallowing evaluation, is to more effectively educate our patients, families,
and community about impaired swallowing,” says Susan Sain, RN, BSN,
Stroke Coordinator for Catawba Valley Medical Center. “CVMC will
utilize the grant monies towards the purchase of the current state-of-the-art
instrumentation in dysphagia, the Digital Swallowing Workstation. Objective
data provided by the Digital Swallowing Workstation will improve evidence-based
clinical practice and allow SLPs to conduct FEES with high quality digital
imaging, utilize surface electromyography as a treatment strategy, and
complete pharyngeal/upper esophageal manometry studies to assist in dysphagia
treatment options.” The closest available Digital Swallowing Workstation
is 50 miles from Hickory.
Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, N.C., is a not-for-profit, public
healthcare system providing and promoting the physical, mental, emotional
and spiritual well-being of the public in addition to serving as a center
for health education, wellness services, preventative medicine and acute
care. Located in Hickory, N.C., CVMC has received three Magnet designations
from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and has been recognized
for providing “An Outstanding Inpatient Experience” for a
third consecutive year by J.D. Power and Associates. For more information,
please visit
http://www.catawbavalleymedical.org.