Critics are skeptical?  No need for skepticism if you are the one in the ambulance.  No thanks, take me to the specialty center please. Isn’t there a famous line that goes something like a “mind is a terrible thing to waste”.  That is especially true if it is your brain you are talking about.  Much of the complaining comes from insurance companies who do not want to pay more (or pay at all really) than THEY feel is necessary for a patient’s care.  In the end, the best for the patient’s health should be the only consideration. If your brain were on the line, what would you do? . . . jomaxx

from USA Today . . . Bypassing closer hospitals to rush people with blood clots or bleeding in their brains to specialty hospitals is an increasingly common way to deliver the most advanced care as soon as possible.” This “treatment model is similar to the one developed years ago to help save the lives of those severely injured in accidents or by violence by passing local hospitals to reach one of the 255 U.S. trauma centers.” There are, however, “some in the medical community are skeptical about emergency crews bypassing community hospitals in favor of farther-away stroke centers.” Critics argue that “many patients who don’t stand to benefit from cutting-edge, and often experimental, care at specialty centers could get quality care at smaller hospitals.” Currently, four states “certify hospitals as stroke centers, and 43 more states have at least some hospitals that are certified by health quality groups,” such as “stroke centers.”