June 15, 2007 –
Norfolk, VA– Drs. Sidney Mallenbaum, medical director of
Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital Stroke Center and John C. Agola, interventional neuroradiologist at
Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Stroke Center have been appointed to the Joint Commission on Health Care’s Stroke Work Group.
Just over a dozen recognized stroke experts in the state and citizens with personal stroke experience are charged with studying stroke prevention and care across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Over the next six months, this group will develop strategies and policy recommendations to improve stroke care and prevention for Virginians. Findings of the group will be presented during the General Assembly’s regular session in early 2008.
This group will identify solutions to address barriers to optimal stroke care, focusing on issues such as public awareness; emergency response at facilities receiving stroke patients; stroke prevention; rehabilitation; quality improvement initiatives; and access to public support for indigent and uninsured stroke victims.
With more than 13 years of experience, Dr. Agola is one of the state’s few interventional neuroradiologists and practices at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, one of only nine certified stroke centers in Virginia. He currently teaches at Eastern Virginia Medical School and gained specialized fellowship training at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York and Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. He earned an undergraduate degree from University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from SUNY Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn in New York. Agola also completed a residency in general surgery from North Shore University Hospital in New York and a residency in diagnostic radiology from The Long Island College Hospital in New York.
Dr. Mallenbaum has been in private practice as a neurologist in Virginia Beach for nearly 18 years and serves as medical director of Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital’s Stroke Center. He has gained national recognition for ongoing contributions as a researcher. Mallenbaum earned his undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and his medical degree from University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill. Mallenbaum also completed his residency in neurology at Montreal Neurological Hospital of McGill University.
Stroke is one of the most preventable and treatable of all medical conditions. Key factors in surviving a stroke include knowledge of symptoms and risk factors, and seeking immediate medical treatment within the first three hours of the first sign of stroke.
Risk factors include family history of stroke or heart disease, age, gender, medical history and race, high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, obesity, use of birth control pills, excessive alcohol consumption, drug abuse, and physical inactivity.
Common signs of stroke include:
H – headache sudden onset
E – eye problems (blurred, decreased, double or loss of vision)
L – language problems/lightheadedness (slurred speech, difficulty understanding speech, dizziness, loss of balance or unexplained falls)
P – paralysis, or the inability to move one or both sides of the body, weakness or numbness
HELP = Call 911
Sentara is a premier not-for-profit health care provider in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina with 3 of the state’s primary stroke centers. Sentara Norfolk General, Sentara Leigh, and Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospitals are among only 6 others in the state cited for excellence in stroke care and certified by the Joint Commission. To learn more about Sentara’s neurological services and Certified Stroke Centers, visit
www.sentara.com 32/2007