The Sunrise Health Region unveiled the latest component in its Integrated Stroke Strategy at the grand opening of the Stroke Prevention Clinic on May 24.
Located in the Yorkton Regional Health Centre, the Stroke Prevention Clinic instructs clients in making lifestyle changes that can prevent the occurrence or reoccurrence of a stroke, including quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight.
"It's way better to have people preventing stroke way upstream with healthy lifestyle practices," said Sunrise interim CEO Suann Laurent. "Research shows that 80 to 90 percent of all strokes are preventable by having a healthy lifestyle."
Additionally, every two weeks the clinic schedules a remote consultation between patients and neurologists in the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region using the new Telehealth videoconferencing service.
The new communication network reduces wait times and saves patients lengthy trips to Regina, where consultations previously had to take place in person.
"It's a great service to offer right here in Sunrise Health Region," said Provincial Health Minister Don McMorris, who was a guest at the grand opening.
Sunrise's Integrated Stroke Strategy is a provincial pilot project. Various components of the multipronged strategy have been in place since 2009.
"I think there's a lot that can be learned as we move forward with how we can implement it in other parts of the province," said McMorris.
