Treating Stroke

When you’re treated for a stroke at Providence, a multidisciplinary team of specialists works quickly to provide you with disability-limiting and life-saving treatment. The next step is to get you feeling better for years to come with a healthy lifestyle and other prevention strategies.

Why Choose Us for Stroke Treatment?

At Providence, we are here for you with world-class emergency treatment during a stroke and compassionate care as you recover. Here’s why thousands of patients trust us to provide leading-edge stroke treatment every year:

If you’ve had a stroke, we work with you after your emergency treatment to find out why it happened. In addition to your neurologist, your multidisciplinary care team may include nurse navigators to coordinate your care with your primary care physician, rehabilitation specialists, counselors and dietitians. If a heart disorder caused your stroke, your cardiologist also will be part of your care team.

We offer various support services to maximize your quality of life during and after your stroke treatment. Our diet and exercise programs emphasize prevention and help you make positive lifestyle changes. Rehabilitation therapies – such as speech, occupational and physical therapy – help you regain your mental and physical strength following treatment. And if you need skilled nursing care, our social workers and case managers can help you and your family make those arrangements.

At Providence, we’re committed to providing access to the best stroke care across our diverse community. We respect and support the racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual and spiritual identities of each patient. We offer location-specific translation services for non-English-speaking patients and help with transportation. If your local hospital doesn’t have stroke specialists on call, we provide virtual, 24/7 care through telestroke. This video technology allows specialists to treat stroke patients who are in another location. And, in keeping with our Mission, Providence offers financial assistance programs that provide free and low-cost care to those who are eligible.

As a patient at Providence, you belong to one of the largest networks in the nation for multidisciplinary care. Neurologists, cardiologists and other doctors can share knowledge and experience with world-class clinicians across 51 hospitals in seven states. If you need specialty care, your care team can easily reach the physicians with the most expertise. The power of our network is one of the reasons we care for stroke patients during more than 23,000 visits each year.

Providence is well known for offering options – and hope – to patients seeking the most advanced procedures and therapies to treat stroke. Our doctors and scientists support groundbreaking research, including trials on the best ways to prevent strokes. Your physician can recommend you for trials that may be a good fit.

How Our Doctors Are Making a Difference

Our patient Tracy Krueger had a stroke during jujitsu practice. He talks about how the swift, expert care he received at Providence helped him recover.

More About Strokes

A stroke is a cerebral vascular condition that occurs when blood to the brain is blocked or there is bleeding in the brain. These conditions can lead to a lack of oxygen to the brain, killing cells and possibly causing brain damage. A stroke is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment.

Women tend to have more strokes than men. This is because their life expectancy is longer, and the incidence of strokes is higher at older ages. But no matter who you are, improving your overall health by exercising, losing weight and lowering your blood pressure may reduce your risk of stroke.

We treat many types of stroke, including:

  • Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)
  • Ischemic stroke
  • Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)
  • Transient ischemic attack (TIA)

Testing and Diagnostics

Senior couple with doctor

Your multidisciplinary neurological team will use the most advanced methods to diagnose your stroke. These may include one or more of the following:

  • Blood test
  • Carotid ultrasound
  • Computerized tomography angiogram (CTA)
  • CT imaging
  • Echocardiogram
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG)
  • MRI

Personalized Treatment for Stroke

No two stroke patients are the same. This is why your care team works with you to design a treatment plan based specifically on your needs. It includes everything from diagnosis to post-treatment support and prevention of future strokes. Your care plan may include one or more of the following:

Find Care Close to You

Meet the Team

At Providence, you'll have access to a vast network of dedicated and compassionate providers who offer personalized care by focusing on treatment, prevention and health education.