Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability and a major cause of death worldwide. Time is critical in treating a stroke, something UC Health and other health systems nationwide looked to address through mobile stroke units.
But last week, UC Health announced it is eliminating its mobile stroke unit after about five years of service. A press release cited “low volumes and high operating costs” as factors in the decision to cut the unit.
“This plan allows us to redirect resources to where they are needed most for our patients,” said Dr. Brett Kissela, director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and Chief of Research Services at UC Health, in the press release.
A mobile stroke unit is an ambulance-like vehicle outfitted with specialized equipment and operated by medical professionals prepared to treat stroke victims. Cincinnati’s unit, which will cease operations on Sept. 19, is equipped with a CAT scanner, clot-busting medications and connections to doctors on the UC stroke team.
UC Health’s mobile stroke unit was the only one of its kind in the Greater Cincinnati area, and one of just a few in the state of Ohio. In central Ohio, a similar unit called the Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit (MSTU) is a partnership between OhioHealth, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Mount Carmel Health System and the Columbus Division of Fire.
“We combine what’s in the hospital with what we know is good in our public safety systems, and that’s quick and rapid response,” Nathan Jennings, manager of OhioHealth’s Mobile Stroke Treatment Program, said.
The unit works with 911 operators to determine calls for help that may be stroke-related. Patients are then treated in the truck and brought to a hospital.
Every minute is crucial in stroke care, which is why early recognition and fast treatment are critical. Symptoms of stroke include loss of balance, trouble seeing, facial weakness or drooping, arm weakness and difficulty speaking, according to OhioHealth.
Patients who are treated by the MSTU have shorter hospital stays and quicker recoveries, Jennings said.
Jennings acknowledged that mobile stroke units are expensive to operate because they are at the leading edge of research and technology. The traditional health insurance model covers some of the costs, Jennings said, but OhioHealth also works with politicians at all levels to secure funding for the unit.
He said the discontinuation of UC Health’s mobile stroke unit is “a loss” because the units have a real impact in their communities.
In a 2024 news release, Dr. Christopher Richards, medical director of the UC Health Mobile Stroke Unit, shared that in its first four years of operation, the UC Health mobile stroke unit was dispatched almost 3,000 times and transported almost 600 patients.
“The Mobile Stroke Unit was a source of pride and innovation for our region that brought lifesaving care directly to patients in their most critical moments. We are deeply proud of the lives it touched and the awareness it raised around stroke care in our region,” Kissela said in the announcement.
UC Health declined to discuss the impact of the Cincinnati mobile stroke unit and its elimination further.
The announcement of the end of the mobile stroke unit came alongside 50 UC Health layoffs, according to a UC Health statement from Director of Media Relations Heather Chura Smith to CityBeat. The layoffs are part of UC Health’s “commitment to thoughtfully re-evaluate [its] services so [it] can reinvest in areas of highest demand,” the statement said. The impacted employees have been offered severance, according to the statement.
The mobile stroke unit employees will remain employed, according to the statement.