Comprehensive Stroke Center

In October 2012, Lehigh Valley Hospital became the first stroke center in Pennsylvania, and one of the first in the United States, to earn advanced certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. This Gold Seal means we offer the highest standard of care for stroke; it recognizes our significant resources in staff and advanced training needed to treat patients with complex strokes in our Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (NSICU).

In 2004, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest was the first hospital in the region to be designated a Primary Stroke Center. Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg received that same certification in 2006. A Primary Stroke Center is a hospital that has developed special procedures to rapidly diagnose and treat a stroke.

Lehigh Valley Health Network treats the highest number of stroke patients in the region using a Stroke Alert program, a rapid triage process that starts with the EMS teams who bring stroke patients to the hospital and allows early testing and prompt evaluation and treatment by a team of emergency and neurology specialists.

Read more about the Comprehensive Stroke Center designation at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

You'll get the stroke care you need at Lehigh Valley Health Network. Here are other reasons you should choose us for care.

Awards and recognition

  • The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)-Cedar Crest, LVH-Muhlenberg, LVH-Hazleton, LVH-Schuylkill S. Jackson Street and LVH-Schuylkill E. Norwegian Street for achieving 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines Stroke Performance Achievement indicators for consecutive 12-month intervals and 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With the Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures to improve quality of patient care and outcomes in addition to achieving Time to Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy in up to 60 minutes in 50 percent or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients (minimum of six) during one calendar quarter.

Our specialists

  • In the region's only neuroscience intensive care unit, you'll find a team of physicians, nurses and health care professionals who have extensive education and experience in neurology and critical care
  • We are the region's only Magnet hospital, the highest recognition for nursing excellence.

Comprehensive advanced treatments

  • Intra-arterial stroke therapy is provided in only a handful of medical centers nationally, including Lehigh Valley Health Network. During the procedure, a micro-catheter (small, flexible tube) is threaded directly into the clot in the brain. This delivers the clot-busting drug tPA with great precision.
  • Critically ill and injured patients are monitored by an extra set of eyes after surgery. In our off-site advanced intensive care unit (AICU), specially educated critical care physicians (tele-intensivists) use high-tech video, audio and electronic charting equipment to constantly watch patients. Tele-intensivists inform bedside doctors and nurses when a patient needs quick care.

Our quality statistics

We strive to provide you and your loved ones with the best possible care. We continually measure our quality of care and want you to know how we compare to other hospitals nationwide. We consistently rank at or above the national quality standards in stroke care. Also see the health network's quality results for mortality.

Diagnostic catheter angiography

Procedural Complications

Joint Commission Performance Goal

Apr. 2017 – Mar. 2018
Minor neurologic events < 2% 0.0%
Major neurologic events <1% 0.0%