CentraState Medical Center is an Advanced Primary Stroke Center with licensed certification from The Joint Commission and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. We are among an elite group of hospitals in New Jersey and across the country with a specially trained “Stroke Alert” response team with special training in caring for stroke patients. The team is available around the clock to assess patients immediately upon their arrival at the emergency department and initiate appropriate stroke treatment, which may include the administration of a “clot-busting” medication.
TRANSITION OF CARE STROKE OUTPATIENT CLINIC
Patients who have been hospitalized for a stroke or TIA need comprehensive follow-up care in the first weeks after hospital discharge to ensure the best outcomes.
Our Transition of Care Stroke Outpatient Clinic builds on the inpatient care you received for your stroke or TIA so that you continue to recover and prevent additional complications.
Before you leave the hospital we will set an appointment with a nurse who will:
- Provide education to patients and caregivers
- Monitor progress
- Help coordinate care and services, including rehabilitation appointments
- Review prescriptions
- Provide reports to your neurologist or primary care physician for post-stroke care
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STROKE SYMPTOMS AND PREVENTION
When a patient is experiencing stroke symptoms, every second counts in preventing or limiting damage to brain tissue. Symptoms of a stroke include:
- Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or trouble understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden difficulty walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or loss of coordination
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause
If you or someone you know experiences any of these warning signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.
Nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year. While it is more common among people age 65 and older, it can happen at any age. In fact, an estimated one in 10 people who experience a stroke are under the age of 45.
Certain risk factors can increase your chances of having a stroke, including:
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure and elevated blood cholesterol, especially LDL or “bad cholesterol”
- Excess weight and uncontrolled diabetes
- Excessive alcohol use—more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women
- Smoking, which has been shown to double stroke risk
- Atrial fibrillation (or AFib), an irregular and sometimes rapid heartbeat
- Being over age 65 or of African American, American Indian or Native Alaskan descent
The same healthy habits that help protect your heart can also help prevent a stroke:
- Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and choose foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol
- Maintain a healthy weight—excess belly fat, in particular, greatly increases your risk for cardiovascular disease
- Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most days
- Don’t smoke
- Limit alcohol use
- Work with your doctor to properly manage chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes
If you’d like to learn about how to prevent stroke and manage your health, CentraState’s Star and Barry Tobias Health Awareness Center can help. It offers more than 200 health education and lifestyle management programs to help you and your family achieve your health and wellness goals.
For more information, please call 732-308-0570.
PHYSICIANS
VG
Vasko Gulevski, M.D.
Neurology
Michael Chieco, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
Florence Ibale, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
Caren Marks, M.D.
MS Center, Neurology
SL
Susan Lage, D.O.
Neurology
VK
Vikas Khanna, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
SB
Sergey Bogdan, M.D.
Pain Management, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Allen Nau, DO
Emergency Medicine
Pinakin Jethwa, MD
Neurosurgery
Nilay Baxi, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
Edward Adrian, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
Kyle Chapple, MD
Neurosurgery
Steven Guillen, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
MW
Mark Waciega, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
Sanjay Mehta, D.O.
Emergency Medicine
RE
Raymond Esquieres, M.D.
Pain Management, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
JD
Jeremy Dayner, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
Ronald Benitez, MD
Neurosurgery
Amos Katz, M.D.
MS Center, Neurology
Nestor Restua, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
Omar Nabulsi, M.D.
Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine
PK
Paul Kostoulakos, DO
Neurology
Megdad Zaatreh, M.D.
Epileptologist, Neurology
Jia Zhen Cheng, MD
Neurology
TL
Tracey Lee, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
DS
Derek Schaible, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
James Ware, M.D.
Neurology
DO
Diane Occhipinti, N.P.C.
Certified Nurse Practitioner, Emergency Medicine
James Barrese, MD
Neurosurgery
David Estin, M.D.
Neurosurgery
BR
Bruce Rosenblum, MD
Neurosurgery
Shamik Chakraborty, MD
Neurosurgery, Spine Surgery
Richard Meagher, MD
Neurosurgery
LM
Lisa Mason, N.P.C.
Certified Nurse Practitioner, Emergency Medicine
Matthew Tormenti, M. D.
Neurosurgery
YH
Youssef Hannallah, MD
Emergency Medicine
Neha Shah, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
FD
Francisco Del Valle, M.D.
Pain Management, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
RK
Rajat Kumar, M.D.
Neurology
Seth Joseffer, M.D.
Neurosurgery
AN
Arun Nangia, M.D.
Neurology
SW
Scott Woska, M.D.
Pain Management, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
ED
Evander Duck, M.S., M.D.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Nirav K. Shah, M. D.
Neurosurgery
Gary Yen, M.D.
Pain Management, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
BF
Boris Furman, D.O.
Neurology
Jasmin Patel, MD
MS Center, Neurology
MC
Maria Choy, M.D.
Neurology
AM
Amor Mehta, MD
Epileptologist, Neurology
BB
Bruce Bonanno, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
TM
Terence McAlarney, M.D.
MS Center, Neurology
David Frank, M.D.
Neurology
RK
Rajat Kumar, M.D.
Neurology
Mark McLaughlin, M.D.
Neurosurgery
Jonathan Lustgarten, M.D.
Neurosurgery
CM
Cindy McVey, N.P.C.
Certified Nurse Practitioner, Emergency Medicine
David Wells Roth, MD
Neurosurgery
Robert Aiken, MD
Neurology
Imran Khan, MD
Neurology
Francis S.
Francis S.
Francis Schultz is well-versed in remaining calm during stressful situations. The 64-year-old Jackson resident has volunteered as a first responder for more than four decades, most recently in the role of directing traffic and keeping people safe when fire or police services respond to a call. When Francis experienced his own emergency last March, he knew exactly what to do....Read More >
Kristin D.
Kristin D.
Ulcerative colitis by itself would have been bad enough. By the time Kristin Detamore, then 35, returned to work as a school social worker after the birth of her second son, she was accustomed to the pain from inflammatory bowel disease. But the headache baffled her. Unfortunately, the headache soon turned into something much more severe: partial paralysis in which Kristin...Read More >
Alex N.
Alex N.
That optimism came from a 24-year-old woman who just the year previously had her life turned upside down by a stroke. Now, more than two years later, Alex’s positivity has only grown as she continues to make remarkable progress in her recovery. In December 2012, Alex was just getting ready to go on winter break at her college in West...Read More >
