General Information
Scarborough Health Network (SHN) is transforming care through our Stroke Centre of Excellence, where patients and families have access to seamless stroke care service here in our community. Our stroke program provides high quality, patient-centred care, treating and educating patients and their caregivers throughout the acute stroke phase of their illness.
We have dedicated facilities, spaces and resources, and our stroke team is comprised of skilled health care professionals with specialized training and expertise in the management of stroke patients.
Services
Emergency Stroke Care
If you think that you or someone you’re with is having a stroke, call 911 immediately. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will get you where you need to go the fastest.
Hyperacute stroke patients will be taken to a regional stroke centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre or Unity Health – St. Michael’s Hospital.
Acute stroke patients in Scarborough will be taken to the Stroke Centre of Excellence at Birchmount hospital.
Stroke patients in the Emergency Departments at SHN’s Centenary and General hospitals will get rapid treatment and assessment.
Acute stroke patients who are a fit for the Integrated Stroke Unit, will be transferred and admitted to the Stroke Centre of Excellence at Birchmount.
Minor stroke patients (who have experienced a transient ischemic attack or TIA) will be scheduled for a follow-up appointment in the Stroke Prevention Clinic within 72 hours.
If you arrive at the hospital because you may be having a stroke, your emergency care may include:
- Diagnostic Imaging (CT and MRI)
- Consultations (Internal Medicine, Neurology, Cardiology)
- Urgent TIA assessments
- EEG testing (for neurology patients)
- Coordination of secondary stroke prevention follow-up care
Stroke Centre of Excellence
SHN’s Stroke Centre of Excellence provides the Scarborough community with access to seamless stroke care services, improved outcomes, and a better health care experience.
Acute stroke patients who admitted to SHN, will be cared for on the Integrated Stroke Unit — located at our Stroke Centre of Excellence at Birchmount Hospital. Patients will have a seamless journey of care, first receiving specialized care from our stroke team and then being transitioned — if they require — into rehabilitation all within the same space, without having to move from unit to unit. Our Integrated Stroke Unit is implemented in alignment with best practice guidelines for treating stroke inpatients, providing faster service, less time spent in the hospital, and better recovery and quality of life when they return home.
- 22 beds for specialized, acute stroke care and rehabilitation services
- A gym for occupational and physical therapy
- An enhanced lounge for becoming more mobile and getting back to daily activities
- A quiet room for speech assessment and therapy
Contact information
Location: Birchmount Hospital, Unit 4B, 4th floor
Phone:416 495 2582
Fax: 416-495-2623
The Stroke Centre at Birchmount also includes an outpatient Stroke Prevention Clinic that helps to support patients in managing their risk factors for stroke.
- For patients who have had a “mini” or “warning” stroke known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA), or have symptoms of TIA
- Open five days a week
- Provides consultations, and partners with SHN’s emergency departments and family physicians in the community
Contact information
Location: Birchmount Hospital, 4th floor
Phone: 416-495-2558
Fax: 416-495-2581
Stroke care at the Centre are delivered through a coordinated, interprofessional approach. The stroke care team includes:
Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Rehab Assistants, Speech Language Therapists, Nurse Practitioners, Social Workers, Pharmacists, Dietitians, and Spiritual Care
Physicians specialists in Internal Medicine, Neurology, and Physiatry
How to access care
For Emergency Stroke Care
Call 911
If you think that you or someone you’re with is having a stroke, call 911 immediately. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will get you where you need to go the fastest.
Hyperacute stroke patients will be taken to a regional stroke centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre or Unity Health – St. Michael’s Hospital.
Acute stroke patients in Scarborough will be taken to the Stroke Centre of Excellence at Birchmount hospital.
Contact us
Integrated Stroke Unit
Location: Birchmount Hospital, Unit 4B, 4th floor
Phone: 416 495 2582
Fax: 416-495-2623
Stroke Prevention Clinic
Location: Birchmount Hospital, 4th floor
Phone: 416-495-2558
Fax: 416-495-2581