Mount Sinai Queens Opens Expansive, State-of-the-art Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center
New global model for stroke care, designed to maximize the speed and efficiency of stroke diagnosis and treatment
(left to right) Argero "Roula" Siklas, Michael E. Minikes, Dr. J Mocco, Caryn A. Schwab, Dr. David L. Reich, New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard A. Zucker, and NYC Council Member Costa Constantinides
Photo credit should go to Monika Graff
Mount Sinai Queens celebrated the grand opening of its state-of-the-art Cerebrovascular Stroke Center with a special ceremony and ribbon cutting on June 19. The new, fully thrombectomy-capable Stroke Center is the first of its kind in the United States and was custom-designed to provide the fastest and most efficient treatment for people experiencing the most devastating form of stroke - large vessel occlusion (LVO) strokes. In October 2017, Mount Sinai Queens became the first hospital in the borough to perform thrombectomy procedures on LVO stroke patients by creating and deploying a mobile Mount Sinai Health System neurointerventional stroke team. Prior to that, every Queens resident who needed a thrombectomy had to be transferred out of the borough since there was no thrombectomy-capable center.
Large vessel occlusion strokes occur when there is a blood clot in a major artery in the brain, leaving the patient with severe symptoms and potential deficits. LVOs are often the most deadly form of stroke, partially because the standard clot busting drugs often prove to be ineffective for this type of stroke. Thrombectomy, the standard of care for most LVO strokes, is a procedure that removes the clot and quickly restores blood flow to the brain. During a thrombectomy, a highly specialized neuroendovascular surgeon threads a catheter through an artery in the groin or wrist to the patient’s brain and uses suction and/or a stent to remove the clot.
“When it comes to stroke care, time is brain. Every passing minute that blood flow to the brain is blocked, millions of neurons are lost and nearby tissue can be damaged,” says J Mocco, MD, Professor and System Vice Chair in the Department of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai, and Director of the Cerebrovascular Center for the Mount Sinai Health System, who led the effort to design and implement the new stroke center at Mount Sinai Queens. “In addition to having the most advanced stroke imaging and treatment equipment that’s available today, our new Center is designed with imaging, diagnostic, and treatment capabilities in one location, By cutting down the time between when a patient presents in the emergency room and when we are able to restore blood flow to the brain, we will not only save lives but rapidly restore function so patients can continue to live their best lives.”
The Mount Sinai Queens Stroke Center features specially designed equipment that is unique in the United States. It contains the dual modalities of biplane angiography combined with CT, allowing diagnostic CT and the thrombectomy procedure to occur in the same room, on the same table, resulting in improved efficiency, speed, and quality. Mount Sinai stroke experts anticipate that having the best imaging, diagnostic ability and treatment options in one location, a short distance from the emergency department will dramatically cut “door to needle” time (the time from arrival at the hospital to the beginning of clot removal), from the national target of 90 minutes.
“Residents of Queens deserve the innovative, high-quality, timely and patient-centered care offered by this novel center and we are proud to offer this level of care in the borough,” says David L. Reich, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens. “The Stroke Center is another step the hospital is taking to provide the community with critical clinical services right in Queens.”
Special guest Howard A. Zucker, MD, JD, Commissioner of Health for New York State, and Costa Constantinides, Council member for the 22nd District of the New York City Council, joined the celebration as a show of support for effective and efficient stroke care. Mount Sinai Queens also unveiled significant support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
“We are tremendously grateful to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Queens delegation of the New York City Council, especially our own council member, Costa Constantinides, for their advocacy and support in the creation of this innovative Stroke Center,” says Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director of Mount Sinai Queens. “The City Council provided funding for the specialized equipment, and today, we have unveiled the newly named Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Advanced Thrombectomy Suite. We believe this stroke center will not only improve care in the borough of Queens, but will also provide the foundation for groundbreaking research that will enhance the knowledge of stroke care globally.”
“We know what it takes to provide quality medical care employing current best practices, and access to that care should not depend on where you happen to live,” said SNF Program Officer Roula Siklas. “The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is proud to support Mount Sinai Queens in providing such care to stroke patients in Queens. This project is a testament to Mount Sinai’s vision along the axes of two very different timescales: the seconds that count in cases of stroke and the years and decades over which the Mount Sinai Queens Stroke Center will improve health outcomes. And through the research that takes place here, those benefits will extend far beyond the bounds of the borough.”
“Western Queens deserves a state-of-the-art stroke center, so that those in a medical emergency don’t have to cross a bridge to get quality care,” said Costa Constantinides. “The Queens Delegation and I fought so hard to ensure Mount Sinai Queens got that facility, because it was crucial to the health of the borough. I am so excited to see this amazing community partner provide the necessary, high-caliber service our citizens deserve.”
About Mount Sinai Queens
Mount Sinai Queens, a licensed acute care hospital, is at the forefront of healthcare delivery. From its roots, more than 120 years ago, to the cutting-edge quality care and service it delivers today, Mount Sinai Queens is dedicated to serving the Borough of Queens and beyond. Mount Sinai Queens’ beautiful new six-story, 140,000 square foot, $180 million Pavilion is the centerpiece of the Hospital’s commitment to the Borough. Six new state-of-the-art operating rooms allow surgeons to perform elective, emergency, and complex procedures using the latest advances in medical technology including a Da Vinci Surgical System for robotic-assisted surgery. The new interventional radiology suite allows specialists to perform minimally invasive, image-guided procedures to diagnose and treat illnesses without surgery. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Emergency Department, which opened in May 2016 is staffed by Emergency-Medicine trained physicians on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine along with specialty-trained nurses and other staff. The new Emergency Department is designed to meet the urgent and emergent needs of the growing neighborhoods surrounding the Hospital. The Pavilion also houses Mount Sinai Doctors, a large multi-specialty practice providing primary and specialty outpatient medical care in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, and virtually all medical and surgical specialties with physicians on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. A new outpatient Imaging center including a full range of state-of-the-art radiological testing rounds out the new Pavilion. The hospital has an unwavering commitment to patient safety, high quality care and an outstanding patient experience. Mount Sinai Queens is singular in the borough to have received Magnet® designation for nursing excellence, and Primary Stroke Center designation by both The Joint Commission and the NYS Department of Health. It is one of only two hospitals in the Borough that is designated as Thrombectomy-capable for diagnosing and treating stroke. Epic, the hospital’s electronic medical record, allows instant access to critical patient information across all inpatient and outpatient departments enabling faster and more thorough treatment not only at Mount Sinai Queens but across most of the eight hospitals in the Mount Sinai Health System.
For more information, visit www.mountsinai.org/queens or find Mount Sinai Queens on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.