There are more than 795,000 strokes every year in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These medical emergencies – and that’s exactly what they are – can be disabling and potentially fatal.

If you live in the Northwest, Temple Health - Chestnut Hill Hospital might be one of the best places to go if you believe you or someone you love is suffering a stroke, which involves an interruption of blood flow to the brain. More than 260 cases coded as stroke were seen in the emergency department in Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026), according to a hospital spokesperson. That amounts to an 18 percent increase in cases over Fiscal Year 2025.

It isn’t just that Temple - Chestnut Hill might be the closest; it’s also one of the best in the city and anywhere in the country, according to the Joint Commission, an independent, nonprofit organization that accredits more than 20,000 healthcare organizations and programs throughout the country. Recently, the commission re-certified Temple-Chestnut Hill as a primary stroke center – with absolutely no requirements for improvement. That is a rarity.

How rare? The surveyor commented that it's only the fifth time in 16 years of doing primary stroke surveys that she had given zero requirements for improvement.

Tom Capella, MSN, RN, nursing director of Temple Health’s stroke program, explains.

“At Chestnut Hill and the emergency department in particular, we’re very good at a lot of things, but I think one of the things we’re best at is stroke care,” he says. “And we’ve put in a lot of hard work to become as efficient as possible because every minute counts in identifying and treating stroke.”

And the standards any hospital needs to meet are especially rigorous, adds Dr. Samuel Eldrich, medical director of the Temple - Chestnut Hill emergency department.

From a stroke program perspective, he says, the Joint Commission is evaluating the hospital against its own standards and also the national standards as set by the American Heart Association.

In all, that Joint Commission evaluation means a great deal for patients who come to Temple - Chestnut Hill with symptoms of stroke.

“You need to know that you can come to Chestnut Hill, and even though it is a community hospital, you can get the best care you can possibly get for stroke,” Eldrich says.

“We can do everything necessary initially for your stroke,” Capella adds. “We will identify it quickly.”

In all, there are 10 clinical practice guidelines at Chestnut Hill. The hospital benchmarks itself against other primary stroke centers nationally. Chestnut Hill’s re-certification came with a Stroke Honor Roll Gold Medal for 2026.

To understand how all of that matters, it’s first important to understand what a stroke is.

There are two types, Eldrich explains. The first is ischemic stroke, which is when blood lodges in a blood vessel within the brain, blocking the flow. The second type is hemorrhagic stroke, when there is bleeding within a blood vessel in the brain. Both are serious but require different treatments. Imaging helps determine which type of stroke is occurring.

At Chestnut Hill, primary stroke designation means – among other things – that the hospital treats greater than 75% of their patients with clot-busting medication in a 60-minute time frame, which dissolves blood clots rapidly. In addition, some patients may require a thrombectomy – surgery to remove the clot.

So, what are the signs and symptoms of stroke?

There is an acronym that makes it relatively easy to remember. It’s called BEFAST, Capella says. It stands for the following signs:

B = Balance, because stroke can affect balance.

E = Eyes, for eye vision changes.

F = Face, because stroke may cause facial drooping.

A= Arms, for arm weakness.

S = Speech, because it may cause slurring or altered speech.

And the following essential:

T = Because, as the saying goes in medical circles, time is brain. In other words, the sooner stroke can be detected and treated, the better the outcome. Brain cells die quickly, so rapid identification and treatment is vital.

If the Joint Commission re-certification is any indication, Temple - Chestnut Hill is capable of responding to most stroke cases that come their way. Some more complex cases might be redirected to Temple’s main hospital.

“I think it shows that we can deliver high-quality stroke care at Chestnut Hill and we have the academic background with our relationship to Temple main campus,” Capella says. “And so we are very proud, collectively.”