Dupage Policy Journal

During a visit that underscored the advances in stroke treatment at Northwestern Medicine’s Mobile Stroke Unit, Rep. Peter Roskam lauded the unit for its ability to save lives.

“Mobile Stroke Units offer promising technology to reduce time between stroke and critical clinical intervention,” Roskam said. “Innovation like this can literally save lives, leading to better patient outcomes and reducing cost within the Medicare Program.”

Roskam, who represents Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, serves on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee.

Unique to Illinois and one of only nine similar facilities in the U.S., the Mobile Stroke Unit represents “a quantum leap in stroke care,” its director said.

“Every minute saved in treating a stroke patient decreases disability and improves survival,” said Harish Shownkeen, M.D., the Stroke and Neurointerventional Surgery Programs director at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. “We are truly bringing the hospital to the patient.”

The fifth leading cause of death in the U.S., strokes are the No. 1 reason a patient becomes disabled. Among Medicare recipients, stroke is 500 percent more likely to occur. Northwestern’s Winfield, Illinois, hospital’s mobile center can mount treatment in the field before a patient is transported to a hospital.

“I’m encouraged to see innovation like this occurring in my home district and I look forward to working with Northwestern and supporting their medical innovation,” Roskam said.