2009

12 May, 2009

Contact: Julie Uehara, Phone: (330) 375-7117, Email: ueharaj@summa-health.org

Akron, Ohio, May 12, 2009– Summa Akron City Hospital is pleased to welcome Susana M. Bowling as director of cerebrovascular medicine for the Summa Center for Stroke Care.

Board certified in neurology, Dr. Bowling has been a vascular and neurocritical care attending physician at Akron City Hospital since September 2008.  Prior to Akron City, Dr. Bowling held a locums neurology position at Marquette General Hospital in Michigan, was director of vascular and neurocritical care neurology at the Alabama Neurological Institute in Alabama, an attending neurologist at Beth-Israel North Hospital in New York and an instructor in neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

A native of Barcelona, Spain, Dr. Bowling received her Doctor of Medicine from the Autonomous University of Madrid Faculty of Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical School.

Summa Akron City’s Center for Stroke Care has earned the prestigious distinctions of Gold Seal of Approval™ from The Joint Commission for Primary Stroke Centers as well as the Silver Performance Achievement Award from the American Stroke Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke. These significant honors recognize Akron City’s ongoing commitment to providing the highest level of stroke care to its patients and community.

The 27-bed stroke unit is one component of a large, integrated program of care that is defining Summa Health System as the area leader in state-of-the-art treatment for stroke patients.  The stroke unit uses a team approach to help patients return to their best health by developing a coordinated treatment plan to maximize recovery. This approach has demonstrated decreased complication rates, decreased lengths of stay, decreased cost and improved levels of functioning for stroke patients. The stroke team consists of the medical director of the stroke unit, a clinical nurse specialist, pharmacist, patient care coordinator, staff nurse, social worker, dietician, and physical, occupational and speech therapists.

About Summa Health System

Summa Health System is one of the largest organized delivery systems in Ohio.  Encompassing a network of hospitals, community health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital organization, research and a foundation, Summa is nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to healthcare delivery.  Summa's clinical services are consistently recognized by U.S. News and World Report, Thomson Healthcare (formerly Solucient) and The Leapfrog Group. For more information, visit www.summahealth.org.