EVERETT -- Back when Damon Gates started as a nurse 36 years ago, as soon as a patient arrived with a stroke, hospitals would begin arrangements for a long-term care facility.
Now, with more advanced training and treatment, stroke patients have the chance to walk out of the hospital fully functional, said Gates, who recently became the stroke program coordinator at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Last week, the American Heart Association recognized Providence Everett along with Swedish Edmonds and EvergreenHealth Monroe for improving patient outcomes after a heart attack or stroke. The association notes hospitals across the country that follow up-to-date, research-based guidelines on livesaving care. This year, the association recognized 47 Washington hospitals.
Reports that hospitals share with the association are also used for an "enormous" database for health care researchers, Gates said, and hospitals can track their progress and patient outcomes with other hospitals nationwide. Providence Everett ranks in the 75th percentile of all hospitals, Gates said.
"Every 40 seconds, someone in America has a stroke or heart attack," said Shahriar Heidary, board president of the association's Puget Sound chapter and medical director at Sea Mar Community Health Centers, in a press release. "High-quality care should be accessible to all."
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, followed by stroke. Overall, Washington has low heart attack and stroke rates compared to other states, and Snohomish County has lower rates compared to other Washington counties. In Snohomish County, 252 out of every 100,000 residents die of heart disease per year, and 62 out of every 100,00 residents die of stroke per year. Residents of color are more at risk.
Providence Everett saw more than 2,000 heart attack and stroke patients last year, according to hospital records. Swedish Edmonds and EvergreenHealth Monroe didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Heart attacks typically happen when a blood clot blocks blood flow to a person's heart. Symptoms include chest pain or tightness, fatigue, lightheadedness, abnormal heartbeat and anxiety. People age 45 and older are most at risk for heart attacks.
A stroke happens when something blocks blood from a person's brain, or a blood vessel in the brain bursts. It can cause brain damage and death. The main symptoms are loss of balance or vision, arm weakness, face drooping and slurred speech. Strokes mostly happen in people over 60, but young adults may be at risk if they have high blood pressure or diabetes, if they smoke, are obese or exert limited physical activity.
There are two kinds of strokes -- bleeding, or hemorrhagic, strokes and clogged artery, or ischemic, strokes. Gates said Providence Everett mostly treats patients with clogged arteries.
"It's really a matter of plumbing," he said. "Just like if you have a pipe clogged, you've got two choices."
Gates compared pouring Drano down a drain to thrombolytic medication that works as a clot dissolver. The other option, taking a pipe snake and pulling out the clog, is a thrombectomy -- a doctor fishes a line from a wrist or groin artery to the brain, where a tiny cage snags and pulls out the clot.
Providence Everett is the only medical center that performs thrombectomies between Seattle and the border, Gates said. At Providence Everett, patients under suspicion of a stroke typically receive necessary scans and thrombolytic -- or more simply, clot-busting -- medication in less than 30 minutes. Gates said when the hospital's stroke program began in 2005, thrombectomy, or clot removal procedures and medication, didn't exist. Now, like in the case of Providence patient Patt Bass, who in 2021 suffered a massive stroke and won a golf tournament 6 days later, patients can recover easily from the otherwise traumatic event.
If someone shows any signs of heart attack or stroke, Gates said, "Don't wait. Call 911."