Designated Stroke Center
Harrington's Webster and Southbridge Emergency Rooms are also Primary Stroke Service Centers, as designated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Our nurses and doctors work in collaboration with the UMass Memorial Medical Center Department of Neurology TeleStroke Program, designed to provide 24/7 on-demand emergency neurology consultation to subscriber hospitals in order to improve the care of stroke patients in the community.
The program utilizes two-way audio-visual teleconferencing technology to allow the assessment and treatment of in-patients or patients who arrive in our Emergency Rooms with suspected stroke symptoms.
During the video consult, the UMass neurological stroke specialists can see and hear everything at the patient's bedside, allowing for direct communication with Harrington physicians to evaluate the patient's condition and provide a collaborative approach to appropriate treatment. The rapid identification and treatment of patients who exhibit signs and symptoms of stroke is critical.
eICU
Harrington Hospital has implemented a state-of-the-art monitoring system designed to improve support to patients in its Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Known as the eICU program, this advanced system supplements Harrington's ICU service, which is staffed by Harrington physicians, nurses and other medical staff specialists, with ICU staff from UMass Memorial Medical Center.
The eICU program allows UMass Memorial intensivists, who are physicians trained in Intensive Care, to monitor Harrington patients in real time, through use of voice, data and video monitoring. From the eICU Support Center at UMass Memorial, an intensivist can monitor a Harrington patient's vital signs, such as blood pressure, oxygen saturation and heart rate, displayed on computer screens. Other patient information readily available includes the approved care plan, physician notes, current medications, x-rays and recent test results. Any abnormality in a patient's vital signs is instantly sent over the eICU secure, high-speed data lines, prompting the intensivist to closely examine the situation.
The UMass intensivists, through the use of the two-way high-resolution video cameras with enhanced audio capabilities at the patient's bedside, can conduct a quick visual assessment of the patient and also interact directly with both the Harrington medical staff and the patient.