Nicolás Bianchi, M.D., Named Medical Director of UAMS-Led Program to Provide Emergency Stroke Care
| LITTLE ROCK – Nicolás Bianchi, M.D., has been appointed medical director of AR SAVES (Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support), a stroke care program led by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Bianchi, a stroke neurologist and an assistant professor of neurology in the UAMS College of Medicine, earned his medical degree from the Universidad Catolica de Cordoba in Argentina. Bianchi did his residency in internal medicine at the Air Force Hospital Cordoba in Argentina and his residency in neurology at the University of Miami.
Bianchi also completed a fellowship in vascular neurology at the University of Miami.
Bianchi directs the team of stroke neurologists who consult on AR SAVES cases statewide.
AR SAVES provides life-saving emergency care for stroke patients in the region. It uses a high-speed video communications system to help provide immediate, life-saving treatments to stroke patients 24 hours a day. The real-time video communication enables a stroke neurologist to evaluate whether emergency room physicians should use a powerful blood thinner within the critical 4.5-hour period following the first signs of stroke.
The AR SAVES program is a partnership between the UAMS Center for Distance Health, the state Department of Human Services, Sparks Regional Health System in Fort Smith, and 34 other Arkansas hospitals.
Since the program began Nov. 1, 2008, more than 950 patients have received stroke consults through AR SAVES and 220 patients have received t-PA.
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 hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven 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, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News & World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has more than 2,800 students and 775 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide 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.