For Release: IMMEDIATE
Date: Sept. 22, 2006

Sloan Garner, American Heart Association, (919) 463-8309

North Carolina Stroke Advisory Council Formed:

Legislatively Mandated Council Holds First Meeting

RALEIGH – North Carolina’s new Stroke Advisory Council meets for the first time at noon today (Friday, Sept. 22) in Raleigh. The Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force was empowered by the Legislature to establish the Council, which is charged with responsibility for developing a statewide system of stroke care.

North Carolina has the seventh highest stroke death rate in the nation. Just three years ago, the state had the country’s fourth highest stroke death rate. So while progress is evident, stroke remains the third leading cause of death in North Carolina.

House Bill 1860, ratified by the General Assembly in late July, directs the Task Force to include among Stroke Advisory Council members four physicians, a hospital administrator, and representatives from the American Heart Association, the North Carolina Association of Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, and Area Health Education Centers, as well as other relevant experts.

“North Carolina is now one of ten states that have commissioned the creation of a task force or council to consider a statewide system of stroke care,” said Dr. Andrew Asimos, director of emergency stroke care at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and an appointed member of the Stroke Advisory Council. “Considering that all of North Carolina’s Primary Stroke Centers are concentrated in the center of the state, and that the stroke rate is highest in the eastern part of the state, the newly created Stroke Advisory Council will need to carefully consider the measures most likely to decrease the stroke burden and improve stroke care statewide.”

The Task Force-approved appointees to the Stroke Advisory Council include: Dr. Asimos, Michael Brown of Winterville, Marie Debnam of Raleigh, Martha Dixon of Greenville, Donald Ensley of Greenville, Larry Goldstein of Durham, David Huang of Chapel Hill, Robin Jones of Asheville, Karen McCall of Chapel Hill, Greg Mears of Chapel Hill, William Paugh of Goldsboro, Drexdel Pratt of Raleigh, Wayne Rosamond of Chapel Hill, Judy Schanel of Greensboro, W. James Stackhouse of Goldsboro, Charles Tegeler of Winston-Salem, and Stephen Willis of Greenville.

“The Stroke Advisory Council presents a great opportunity for North Carolina’s experts and stakeholders in stroke care to advance a blueprint for system-wide improvement of stroke patient care across our state,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, acting executive director to the Task Force. “Our state is part of the ‘Stroke Belt,’ where there is an inordinate amount of death and disability due to stroke. We have an obligation to take meaningful steps to address that issue.”

The Council is mandated to report findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than February 15, 2007 through the Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force.

“The burden of stroke on the citizens of North Carolina is a multifaceted problem with no simple solution,” said Dr. Goldstein, director of the Duke Center for Cerebrovascular Disease and the Duke Stroke Center, and a longtime American Heart Association Board member. “As a neurologist who has cared for stroke patients in North Carolina for 20 years, I have first-hand knowledge of the impact of this disease. Our challenge is to have appropriate treatments available to North Carolinians no matter where they live.”

“I am confident that the findings and recommendations from the Stroke Advisory Council will lead to greater efficiency and reduce delays to appropriate stroke treatment,” Dr. Plescia added. “The recommendations for improvement will translate not only into reduced healthcare costs over time, but more importantly, into a greater number and quality of lives saved, and that’s what our work is all about.”

For more information about heart disease and stroke prevention in North Carolina, see the “Start with Your Heart” website at www.startwithyourheart.com or call the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Branch at (919) 707-5360.

The goal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, is to reduce disability and death from stroke through research, education and advocacy. Visit www.strokeassociation.org or call 1-888-4-STROKE for more information.

Call 9-1-1 if any of these stroke symptoms are present:

• Numbness/Weakness. Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
• Confusion. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding.
• Vision. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
• Movement. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or coordination.
• Headache. Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

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