Stroke Care Pilot Project

 Powell River Hospital Foundation Supports Stroke Care Pilot Project

We have recently joined a Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) collaboration to improve our hospital’s response to stroke patient care.  This initiative will connect Powell River along with Sechelt and Lions Gate Hospitals, via Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven software, to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), currently the only location in VCH able to quickly provide specialized stroke recovery therapy.

In fiscal year 2022/23, qathet Hospital emergency department admitted 60 Powell River individuals for stroke.

We know anecdotally how difficult it is for local physicians to diagnosis the severity of a stroke, to assess whether it is ongoing or how likely it is to re-occur, and how urgently they should request to fly a patient out to Vancouver.  Having Rapid AI available at qathet Hospital will enable better stroke identification and decision-making regarding transfer to VGH for a treatment called Endovascular Therapy (EVT) to remove clots and restore blood flow to the brain.  

A Vancouver Coastal Health information release (below) outlines how this initiative will improve the experience and outcomes for individuals following an acute stroke.
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Using AI to support faster stroke care for Coastal patients:  VCH Innovation

When it comes to stroke diagnosis and treatment, timing is everything:  for every minute delay in treatment, 1.9 million brain cells are lost.

To treat strokes quickly and effectively, a treatment called Endovascular Therapy (EVT) may be used to remove clots and restore blood flow to the brain.

Within VCH, EVT is only available at VGH, which creates care challenges for patients from Coastal communities who need specialized stroke treatment.

“We want to make sure that following a stroke, individuals living in our Coastal communities get access to the care they need quickly”, says Kelly Sharp, Regional Stroke Lead.  “A brilliant team across VCH is piloting an exciting initiative that will expand the use of AI-driven imaging software to our Coastal communities.  This technology will quickly analyze CT scans, determining the severity of a stroke and alerting VGH neurologists right away if EVT is needed.”

The diverse team, including stroke neurology, emergency department physicians and staff, radiology, medical imaging, and other key partners across the VCH region, will collaborate to
support:  
​Patient-centred care. Coastal patients will receive the right care at the right place at the right time.
Patient outcomes. Minimizing the time to treatment is critical for preventing brain damage and improving recovery.
Access to specialized care. Enabling local hospitals to collaborate with VGH specialists will ensure patients receive specialized treatment as soon as possible.
Equity in health care. Indigenous populations and remote communities face a higher risk of stroke. Now rural and remote hospitals can provide more equitable access to stroke diagnosis and treatment.
Provider experience. Using AI can positively affect neurologists' experience, helping them make faster and better-informed decisions.
Use of health-care resources. Only those who are confirmed as candidates for EVT will be transferred from Coastal to VGH, freeing up emergency transport for other critical cases.
System and environmental savings. Reducing unnecessary patient transfers relieves the burden on the health-care system and also reduces costs and environmental impacts from ground and air transport.
This project has generous funding support from the Vancouver Coastal Health–Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation Fund, and the Lions Gate, Sechelt and Powell River Hospital Foundations.