Virginia Department of Health Announces Post-Discharge Stroke Navigator At Twin County Regional Healthcare

In partnership with Health Quality Innovators and the Virginia Department of Health, Karen Bonham BSN, RN has accepted a Post-Discharge Stroke Navigator position to be based at Twin County Regional Healthcare. The Virginia Department of Health was recently awarded the very prestigious CDC Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program. In combination with another CDC Cardiovascular Health grant through the Virginia Department of Health, VDH partner Health Quality Innovators provides support to Twin County Regional Healthcare in decreasing stroke death rates in Galax.

In 2001, Congress provided funding to CDC to establish the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry (PCNASR). The Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry was named after the late U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia, who suffered a fatal stroke in 2000 while serving in Congress. In 2012, as the program expanded, the name was changed to the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program (PCNASP).

The CDC Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program (CDC PCNASP, or Coverdell), is a highly competitive grant through the CDC Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention with the goal of supporting state recipients to improve stroke outcomes and quality of stroke care, with an added focus on health disparities experienced by vulnerable and high risk populations. The grant requires states to implement a statewide stroke registry, assess and improve quality of stroke care, support transitions of care, raise stroke awareness, and utilize Community Health Workers Patient Navigators to provide post-discharge support and prevention of stroke. Virginia is one of thirteen states who received the Coverdell Grant.

“We congratulate Karen on this position,” said Gregory Pearson CEO at Twin County Regional Healthcare. “We believe this is another step in filling in the gaps in stroke care in our area.”

Twin County Regional was selected for support due to mortality rates, service percentage of Galax City, and Twin County Regional Healthcare is the only stroke certified facility in the local region. The VDH, through the Virginia Stroke Care Quality Improvement Advisory Group, analyzed age-adjusted stroke mortality rate by county and city. Data from 2016-2020 revealed that Galax City has the third highest stroke mortality rate in the Commonwealth at 82.64 per 100,000 population. From 2016-2020, 90% of stroke hospitalizations from people with a residence of Galax City took place at Twin County Regional Healthcare. Under Coverdell, hospitals with a service area that have the highest stroke mortality rate are also participating in the statewide stroke initiatives.