_{Bryn Mawr Hospital NCICU Nurse Manager, Arie Hallowell (left), and Nurse Gail Bull (right), prepare to distribute the home ornaments to the staff on the unit.}

Former Bryn Mawr Hospital (BMH) patient Elizabeth Croner thanked the staff of the hospital’s Neuro Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (NCICU) for providing exceptional care following a stroke earlier this year. Croner presented her care team with ornaments designed as “homes” reminding them of all the patients they have helped get home over the years.

After Croner’s family brought her to Paoli Hospital’s Emergency Department with stroke symptoms, the Paoli team quickly transferred her to Bryn Mawr Hospital’s highly specialized Neurovascular Lab where she was diagnosed with subarachnoid hemorrhage from an aneurysm. Grahame Gould, MD, neurointerventionalist, performed a non-surgical procedure that uses coils to control the aneurysm. Thanks to her family’s quick response to her symptoms, and rapid assessment, transfer and treatment, Croner had no permanent physical or cognitive deficits from the hemorrhage.

“I can’t stress enough the critical nature of seeking emergency treatment as soon as stroke or aneurysm symptoms appear—this includes numbness in the face or limbs, severe headaches, dizziness and trouble seeing or talking,” said Dr. Gould. “The quicker a patient is seen and treated by a specialized neurointerventional team, the greater their chances for a full recovery.”

In a letter accompanying the houses, Croner thanked the NCICU staff: “I can’t thank everyone enough for providing exceptional care given to me during my time in the NCICU. I was able to get home to my family because of all of you. Hopefully, these houses will remind you of everyone you have helped get home over the years. You are all very special.”

Bryn Mawr Hospital, part of Main Line Health, is part of the Jefferson Neurosciences Network and provides comprehensive care for stroke patients from education to diagnosis and treatment. Bryn Mawr Hospital’s Neurovascular Lab, offers patients innovative, nonsurgical procedures for the treatment of embolic strokes and non-ruptured aneurysms. Bryn Mawr Hospital is the first and only suburban hospital in the southeastern Pennsylvania region to have a university-affiliated neurosciences center for comprehensive stroke care. The Hospital was awarded the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award for their commitment to clinical excellence and patient safety.

As part of the Jefferson Neurosciences Network, Bryn Mawr Hospital has access, leading-edge clinical trials and advanced protocols for the detection and treatment of stroke and other neuroscience disorders.

Founded in 1985, Main Line Health is a not-for-profit health system serving portions of Philadelphia and its western suburbs. Main Line Health’s commitment—to deliver advanced medicine to treat and cure disease while also playing an important role in prevention and disease management as well as training physicians and other health care providers—reflects our intent to keep our community and ourselves well ahead. A team of more than 10,000 employees and 2,000 physicians care for patients throughout the Main Line Health system.

At Main Line Health’s core are four of the region’s most respected acute care hospitals—Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital—as well as one of the nation’s recognized facilities for rehabilitative medicine, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital.

The Main Line Health system also includes Mirmont Treatment Center for drug and alcohol recovery; Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice, which includes skilled home health care, hospice and home infusion services; Main Line Health Centers, primary and specialty care, lab and radiology, and other outpatient services located in Broomall, Collegeville, Concordville, Exton and Newtown Square; Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, a biomedical research organization; and Main Line HealthCare, one of the region’s largest multispecialty physician networks.

Main Line Health is the recipient of numerous awards for quality care and service, including System Magnet® designation, the nation’s highest distinction for nursing excellence, the Mid-Atlantic Alliance for Performance Excellence (MAAPE) Excellence Award, and recognition as among the nation’s best employers by Forbes magazine. Main Line Health is committed to creating an environment of diversity, respect and inclusion and has proudly embraced the American Hospital Association’s #123forEquity Pledge to Act to eliminate disparities in care. We are dedicated to advancing patient-centered care, education and research to help our community stay healthy.