Stroke Certification Discussion Should Be On Next Meeting's Agenda

Jordan Battani has been working hard to place an item on the next meeting's agenda that will capture what I believe is important about this issue.  I am not sure what form it will take, but there will be something.

To clarify, my position is:

My position is that without the Hospital management demonstrating that treatment of stroke patients at the Hospital is medically beneficial then they should refrain from doing so.  Full stop.

As a corollary to the above, I believe that Hospital management has been dishonest as to the benefits to having stroke victims treated at the Hospital and need to justify their position that this is beneficial to Alamedans.  Making that case would require independent analysis (and the Joint Commission certification is not sufficient to answer that question).

As to whether stroke certification is a good idea in a vacuum, that is not what is on the table so it makes it impossible to have a discussion when people paint the issue as, "why would anyone be against stroke certification?"   Of course, I believe that stroke certification, all things being equal, is a good thing, but if it means that stroke victims are then routed to Alameda Hospital instead of alternative facilities elsewhere in the County then the net effect is worse health outcomes for Alameda's citizens.  Since I doubt that Hospital management is interested in having patients routed off-Island after stroke certification is obtained, then I believe that the rational conclusion if you want the best for Alamedan's health is to oppose stroke certification.