John Castaldo, M.D., Chief, Division of Neurology

“I found the support and commitment I needed to build one of the nation's first Primary Stroke Centers.”

The road to directing one of the nation's leading stroke centers began soon after neurologist John Castaldo, M.D., arrived at Lehigh Valley Health Network in 1983. The network joined a series of national stroke-related clinical trials, including trials of the thrombolytic therapy tPA.

"To participate, we had to develop protocols and build an infrastructure for treating acute stroke," Castaldo says. "When the FDA approved tPA in 1996, we really changed our culture, working with emergency medicine to develop an effective stroke alert system."

In 2004, the center became one of the first three stroke centers in the country designated by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) as a Primary Stroke Center. Stroke patients are treated with tPa any time of the day or night within 80 minutes of their arrival to the hospital, greatly reducing the chance of death or disability.

Now, Castaldo wants the public to understand the difference in acute stroke care. He is pushing national legislation that will divert emergency responders to Primary Stroke Centers. "It's like diverting patients to Level I Trauma Centers," he says. "It saves lives."

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