Health

Region's First Mobile Stroke Unit Seeks To Speed Up Treatment

91.7 WVXU | By Ann Thompson

Published August 10, 2020 at 4:45 PM EDT

Updated September 4, 2025 at 4:39 PM EDT

The specialized stroke unit is based in Springfield Township and can respond to an area that is about 15 minutes away.

Updated: September 4, 2025 at 4:39 PM EDT

After five years, UC Health is shutting down its Mobile Stroke Unit. The first-of-its-kind unit launched in 2020 and included a mobile CT scanner and clot-busting drugs used to diagnosis and treat possible stroke victims faster.

UC says everyone who worked on the unit will remain employed. UC declined an interview request with WVXU. However, in a release it says low volumes and high operating costs factored into the decision.

The statement continues, stating UC Health will shift its focus to expanding access to high-demand, lifesaving stroke treatments, including through clinical trials and continued investments in stroke-related research and training.

UC said last year that in the unit's first four years, it was dispatched almost 3,000 times, transported almost 600 patients, and more than 100 patients had some sort of treatment for acute stroke.

Seconds count in stroke treatment so beginning Tuesday UC Health will have a new resource to get patients the help they need.

UC is introducing a Mobile Stroke Unit specially designed to evaluate and treat patients who may be having a stroke. It's staffed with a paramedic, an EMT, a critical care registered nurse and a CT technician. A Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Team physician will respond via telemedicine.

The average stroke patient doesn't get clot-busting medicine until 45-60 minutes after arriving at a hospital. This is because patients have to first get a CT scan and other assessments.

"Millions of brain cells die every minute that stroke treatment is delayed and research shows that mobile stroke units can provide treatment 20 to 30 minutes faster than in an emergency department," says Joseph Broderick, MD, director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and Professor of Neurology and Rehabilitation medicine at the UC College of Medicine."

The Mobile Stroke Unit is dispatched along with the local EMS department. It's equipped with advanced diagnostic technology including a mobile CT scanner and the clot-busting medication tPA. (tissue plasminogen activator)

Medical Director of the Mobile Stroke Unit Dr. Christopher Richards says it's the first of its kind in the region. "We are able to bring the emergency department to the curbside in order to diagnose and treat stroke as quickly and safely as possible."

The unit is based at the Springfield Township Fire Department at 9150 Winton Road and will be available between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily, including holidays. It will respond in an area of approximately 15 minutes from the fire station.