Arizona Telemedicine May 2014 | Page 30

TELESTROKE: Mayo Clinic’s Telestroke Program Equalizes Stroke Care throughout Arizona Because of a chronic shortage of specialists in Arizona’s rural communities, patients who suffered a stroke in Phoenix or Tucson used to be 10 times more likely to receive the best possible care, in a timely manner, than patients treated at rural hospitals. The Arizona Department of Health Services and Mayo Clinic – Phoenix, working with rural hospitals, have solved that problem. Bart M. Demaerschalk, MD Director of the telestroke and teleneurology program, Mayo Clinic 26