How Telemedicine Affects You:
Loree's Stroke Story

"Amazing communication and coordination of care among doctors"

"A stroke is like a small part of the brain is drowning, and if you don’t re-establish blood flow within a very short period of time, part of the brain is irreversibly damaged. Unlike ten years ago, we now have medical and interventional therapies to treat patients,” says Dr. Bruce Deas, Medical Director of Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Will I have access to high quality medical care in rural Lake County?

Loree Shillinger's Real-Life Stroke Story

During a trip to the post office, Loree Shillinger began to experience dizziness and numbness to her left side. Clinging to the outside wall of the post office and struggling to make it to her car and phone, Loree knew that precious moments were slipping by – would Sutter’s hospital and doctors have the expertise and equipment to save her life, or to minimize potential disabilities that would threaten her quality of life?

It was October 2009. Loree Shillinger was 46 years old and was having a stroke.

Sutter Lakeside Hospital Emergency Department personnel recognize that every second counts when it comes to caring for patients, like Loree, experiencing an acute stroke. Swift diagnosis and treatment in the emergency room is vital. Loree's hesitations about rural hospital medicine were immediately allayed by the impressive actions of a team and facility that she describes as “compassionate, caring, competent and able to make me feel that I was the center of everything – in an extremely busy department, it was obvious that Sutter was just where I needed to be.”

Dr. James Pretorius, hospitalist at Sutter Lakeside Hospital worked with Dr. David Tong of Sutter Health’s San Francisco affiliate, California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), whose renowned Neuroscience Institute and Stroke Team via telephone made arrangements to transfer Loree for follow up care. For Loree Shillinger, this collaboration would prove to be paramount to a positive outcome and a new lease on life.

Telemedicine provides expert stroke care close to home

Telemedicine programs, such as eICU, are currently providing patients at Sutter Lakeside Hospital with the ability to receive exceptional medical care locally, supported by highly trained specialists after hours, keeping them here in Lake County and closer to family and friends. For the more than 100 stroke patients seen in Sutter Lakeside’s Emergency Department each year, the possibility of remaining in Lake County while receiving higher-level stroke specialty care just became a reality.

Thanks to the generosity of Lake County, Sutter Lakeside Hospital Foundation's 2010 Stroke Telemedicine Campaign was a total success, and we met the Sutter Health Matching Grant Challenge, allowing for purchase of telestroke equipment linking to stroke specialists. With high-quality video conferencing equipment, Sutter Lakeside Hospital emergency physicians and nurses will consult with the on-call stroke team at California Pacific Medical Center. Neurologists, neurosurgeons and other specialty trained experts at CPMC’s stroke center will now be able to provide timely medical assessments, enabling us to begin high level stroke treatment immediately.

Your donations made it possible

Through your generous donations, we can now provide telemedicine stroke care at Sutter Lakeside Hospital. As Loree said, “As recipients of the exceptional quality care that saved my life, I feel extreme gratitude and confidence in knowing that Sutter Lakeside Hospital is here. As donors, my husband and I feel that we can give back in some small way and encourage everyone to join us."

"Because life is precious, we encourage giving to life and a lifetime of giving."

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