UAMS-Led Stroke Program Honors McGehee-Desha Hospital ER Physician
| LITTLE ROCK – McGehee-Desha County Hospital’s Steve Oboma Asemota, M.D., recently was named Emergency Room Physician of the Year for his work with the AR SAVES stroke program.
McGehee-Desha Hospital is one of 18 Arkansas hospitals now linked with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)-led SAVES program, which uses the latest video communications technology to help provide immediate, life-saving treatments to stroke patients 24 hours a day.
Asemota was recognized at a statewide stroke conference held at Mount Magazine State Park.
As with most outlying community hospitals, before SAVES, patients often missed the opportunity to receive the clot-dissolving drug tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) simply because there was no stroke neurologist available to recommend its use. Patients must receive the drug within 4.5 hours, which has been nearly impossible for many rural stroke patients.
“Dr. Asemota immediately saw the value of the SAVES program for his community, and he has been proactive in his support,” said Julie Hall-Barrow, Ed.D., education director for the UAMS Center for Distance Health.
Since McGehee-Desha Hospital joined the SAVES program in February 2009, there have been 15 stroke consults with AR SAVES, and Asemota has seen the dramatic results.
“In some cases the t-PA has reversed stroke’s effects on patients,” Asemota said. “It’s been quite rewarding for me and the patients.”
But even with the SAVES program, Asemota said many stroke patients arrive at the hospital too late to receive the t-PA, and he is glad that the SAVES program includes a strong public awareness and education campaign.
“It is very necessary to educate people about the need to come quickly to the hospital,” he said.
“Dr. Asemota is a wonderful, caring physician, who always puts the patients first,” said John Heard, CEO of McGehee-Desha County Hospital. “His willingness to accept change for the betterment of the community is evident in his use of telemedicine.”
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and six institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.