Chicago is poised to make a triumphant return to normalcy (or something close to it) this summer, and one of the most highly anticipated events of the festival season is the Windy City Smokeout. According to a recent press release, the country music and BBQ festival is confirmed to take place Thursday, July 8, through Sunday, July 11, 2021, adding a fourth day to what has, in past years, been a three-day lineup of legendary music acts and delicious BBQ.
Country fans can feast their ears on the music of Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, Hailey Whitters, and a host of other country music stars. As the first summer festival to return as part of Chicago’s reopening, this promises to be one of the biggest live music events of the season.
screenshot via Windy City Smokeout website
Get ready to sing along to your favorite tunes in between bites— while taking in the sights and sounds of the Smokeout, you would be crazy not to take advantage of the smells and tastes of the world’s best BBQ. From Louisiana to Texas, St. Louis, Nashville, and beyond (Chicago obviously has a few of its own must-try spots), the nation’s hottest BBQ destinations will be well-represented this July, and are bringing all the smoky, tender meats you’re craving. Wash it all down with some craft beer, and it might just start feeling like a “normal” summer.
The Smokeout has also appointed a Safety, Health and Security team to ensure festival-goers’ well-being. Working with public health officials, the team will be responsible for implementing a detailed safety plan which includes sanitizing public areas, maintaining hand-washing stations, enforcing mask-wearing, and screening attendees for either confirmed vaccination or (for the unvaccinated) a recent negative COVID test.
Those interested in attending can purchase single-day or four-day passes (each available at general admission and VIP pricing), though general admission day passes for Saturday, July 10, have already sold out, according to the festival’s Facebook page. VIP passes include express festival entry, access to VIP restrooms, and festival re-entry.
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Check out the Windy City Smokeout’s official website for more details pertaining to the festival’s music and BBQ lineups, as well as health and safety protocols.
Featured Image Credit: Windy City Smokeout on Facebook
The Blackhawks’ unexpected first-half surge in 2021 proved to be — unsurprisingly — unsustainable.
When the final horn blew on their season Monday, it happened quietly. The Hawks had been out of the playoff race for two weeks, playing out the string. They finished 24-25-7 for a .491 points percentage — their second-worst since 2007, even worse than the two previous seasons.
But getting here wasn’t the bland, pointless exercise that seemed inevitable at the beginning of January. It wasn’t even similar to the last two seasons, which were somewhat competitive but ultimately aimless.
No, the 2021 Hawks, in spite of their eventual demise, provided a compelling, entertaining and fruitful season.
Projected by every major national publication to finish among the worst five teams, they quickly found new company among the NHL’s middle class. Overcoming a disastrous opening road trip, they beat up on the Red Wings, Blue Jackets and Stars — the latter two having been expected to dominate the Hawks. After a 2-0 victory over the Jackets on Feb. 25, the Hawks had a winning record (11-6-4) for the first time since October 2018.
Two weeks later, a 4-2 win over the Stars gave the Hawks a .500 record at the season’s halfway point for the first time since 2016-17. Jeremy Colliton entered the conversation for the Jack Adams Award for top coach, Kevin Lankinen entered the Calder Trophy conversation for top goalie, winger Patrick Kane entered the Hart Trophy conversation for MVP, and the Hawks briefly became the talk of the NHL.
The Hawks maintained legitimate playoff hopes for a while in a Central Division with three dominant teams and four postseason spots. They spent a total of 65 days in or tied for one of those spots.
A 4-3 shootout victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning on March 5 boosted their odds of making the playoffs to a season-high 67.2%, per MoneyPuck.com. Only two other teams who will miss the playoffs saw their odds go above 67% in March or later — the Flyers (March 11) and Flames (March 17).
A slow decline followed, but the Hawks’ odds remained above 20% until April 4 and above 10% until April 20 — deep into the season. That gave fans a reason to watch, an emotional investment in the wins and losses, a reason to believe this strange season really mattered.
In the end, it also gave them a reason for anger and frustration when the Hawks crumbled in April and May and the Predators raced past. But even that was compelling. When the Wings, Sabres, Senators and Ducks lost games this season, it was numbing at best, irrelevant at worst. When the Hawks — originally considered peers of those teams — lost games, it mattered.
This season won’t be historically notable for any game results or decent playoff odds but rather for being the season when the Hawks turned the page on their dynasty generation and began embracing a next one.
The retirements of goalie Corey Crawford, defenseman Brent Seabrook and wing Andrew Shaw were cause for nostalgic reflection on the Stanley Cup era but also cemented its end.
Center Jonathan Toews’ step away from the team diversified the locker room leadership, giving bigger voices to guys such as wing Alex DeBrincat and defenseman Connor Murphy — roles they’ll keep even if Toews returns next season.
And the youth revolution, which the front office finally embraced last fall after three years of useless veteran additions, took hold with incredible speed. The Hawks led the NHL in games played by rookies, getting 12 of them in for at least one game.
Forwards Pius Suter and Brandon Hagel finished fourth and fifth, respectively, on the Hawks in points — the first time two rookies finished in the top five since Kane and Toews in 2008. Hagel, in particular, evolved from an overlooked prospect to a face of the new generation. Forward Philipp Kurashev also took a huge leap in his development.
Lankinen, previously as unknown as Hagel, became an every-day starter within weeks of his debut and injected much-needed stability into the goaltending unit. He now looks like a guy the Hawks can build around moving forward.
Predictably, the defense was still the Hawks’ biggest weakness, and former No. 1 prospect Ian Mitchell struggled the most among the rookies. The combination of Mitchell, Adam Boqvist, Wyatt Kalynuk, Nicolas Beaudin and recently Riley Stillman nonetheless offers hope the defense will improve in time.
Colliton and general manager Stan Bowman realistically figured this year would be about laying the groundwork for the future. Instead, the future took over.
” ‘Satisfied’ is the wrong word, but [I’m] encouraged,” Colliton said Monday. “We have a lot of positives. Ultimately, we’re not in the playoffs. . . . But as an organization, the goal was to give young players opportunity and see what they did with it. We’ve done that.”
The success in future seasons that this season made possible will of course be appreciated more when those seasons happen. And there’s no question the Hawks’ on-ice performance, particularly in the second half, could have been a lot better.
Thus, many Hawks fans might not remember 2021 fondly. But at least they will remember it.
ChicagoBears (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Once upon a time, the Chicago Bears lost an overtime thriller to Tim Tebow and his Denver Broncos.
It wasn’t the prettiest game as the Bears had to start Caleb Hanie at quarterback. However, the Bears did hold a 10-0 lead in the fourth quarter before the Tebow magic happened. Ultimately, Bears fans will remember this game as the Marion Barber game.
Late in the fourth quarter, Barber went out of bounds instead of running out the clock. This gave the Broncos hope — and time. In overtime, Barber fumbled in Denver territory which gave Tebow the ball back and he led the Broncos down to a game-winning field goal off the foot of Matt Prater.
Tebow Time was a real, magical concept. We haven’t seen the guy play NFL football in over 3,000 days. But now, the unimaginable is happening. The Jacksonville Jaguars are close to signing Tebow to a 1-year deal — to play tight end.
Could any former Chicago Bears attempt a similar comeback to that of Tim Tebow?
It’s a valid question. Whenever something surprising like this happens, it gets people thinking.
There have been some great stories over the years in Chicago, whether it be players who have gotten hurt and fans thought they should have had one more chance, or a fan favorite whom would delight Soldier Field by giving it one more go.
What Tebow is attempting to do is pretty remarkable. His last regular season game came all the way back in 2012, nearly 10 years ago. If he were to just make the practice squad — not even the active roster — that would be an unbelievable story.
Of course, fans in Jacksonville may be rooting for more than that. To see him make the active roster would be one of the crazier sports stories in recent memory.
Back to the Bears, though. Which recent retirees could give it one more shot if they wanted to? There are five in particular which come to mind.
The Tribune is reporting that Abt Electronics in Glenview is doubling the size of its warehouse. That means I can relax.
I never know when Barb and I are going to need something from the monster electronics and home appliance store. It is our go-to, and believe me, we have gone there.
When we had a townhouse in Niles, Abt had a store in Niles. When we built a home in Arlington Heights, Abt was in nearby Morton Grove. And through our builds in Long Grove and Riverwoods, the massive Abt showroom in Glenview has been our frequent destination.
We don’t bother to shop around. We trust that we will get a good price, maybe the best price. So of course, all the original appliances for our first houses came from Abt. Redoing our kitchen in Long Grove? Yup, Abt once again. Building a new house less than two years after that kitchen makeover (OK, that was MY fault)–well of course we were going to Abt.
And it’s not just the kitchen stuff. Our new mattress is an Abt’er as well. Every TV in the house (and there are more than you can count on one hand) is Abt purchased and installed. And when the Sony sets stopped working with our Comcast cable system, Abt was there with Mitsubishi replacements.
In the height of the pandemic last spring, when Barb was cooking, cooking, cooking, we ran out of space in our kitchen fridge. and decided a garage refrigerator would be a good solution. We, along with about 1500 other Sunday shoppers, masks over mouths (and some noses) braved the Abt showroom. It remains as the biggest crowd we have been in over the last 15 months. We weren’t totally comfortable, but we got our new fridge, and at a good price too.
We have instilled Abt loyalty in the whole family. The store did a great job heating our son’s screened-in porch last fall. That has kept us warm through quite a few “outdoor” celebrations.
So Abt family, thank you for expanding that warehouse. You never know when Barb and I will think of a new project (NOT a new house.) And we wouldn’t want you to be out of stock on any whiz-bang gadget we might need!
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Hi! I am Les, a practicing pathologist living in the North Suburbs and commuting every day to the Western ones. I have lived my entire life in the Chicago area, and have a pretty good feel for the place, its attractions, culture, restaurants and teams. My wife and I are empty-nesters with two adult children and a grandchild. We recently decided to downsize, but just a bit! I will be telling the story of the construction of our new home, but also writing about whatever gets me going on a particular day. Be sure to check out the “About” page to learn more about where we plan to go with this blog!
The Collaborative Venture Supports the City of L.A.’s Mission to Plant 90,000 New Trees.
The City of Los Angeles, Barnsdall Art Park Foundation, and Los Angeles Parks Foundation are excited to announce an ambitious community initiative to restore and sustain the historic olive grove of Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood. The world- renowned 11.5-acre park and cultural destination includes Hollyhock House, created by Frank Lloyd Wright for Aline Barnsdall, which is Los Angeles’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site.
1947 Aerial photo of Barnsdall Park
The Barnsdall Art Park Foundation has contributed $25,000 to the Los Angeles Parks Foundation’s Adopt-a-Park program. Those funds are being used to pay for the horticultural survey and analysis of Barnsdall Art Park’s olive grove, the necessary care of the site’s 333 existing olive trees for one year, and the development of a comprehensive strategy for planting additional olive trees at the park.
The Barnsdall Art Park Foundation has also begun raising money to provide the Los Angeles Parks Foundation with a grant for its Los Angeles Park Forest program, which will be used to plant and maintain new olive trees at Barnsdall Art Park. The mission of the Los Angeles Park Forest initiative is to add trees to city parks to offset our carbon footprint, cool surface air temperatures, and educate the public about climate change. The Barnsdall Olive Grove Initiative will improve the air quality of the East Hollywood community and support the City of Los Angeles’s goal to plant 90,000 new trees as part of L.A.’s Green New Deal.
2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the completion of Hollyhock House, the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and Gallery Theatre building, and the 50th anniversary of Barnsdall Art Park being added to the National Register of Historic Places. To honor these milestones, the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation has established the Barnsdall Art Park 100 | 50 | 50 Campaign. The contributions raised through this fundraising drive will support the City of L.A.’s comprehensive efforts to conserve, enhance, and activate the park’s landscape, infrastructure, public programs, and exhibitions.
“Barnsdall Art Park is a unique and priceless gem in the City of Los Angeles, and this Olive Grove Initiative is yet another reminder as to why,” said Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell. “Preserving the existing trees and propagating new, healthy olive trees into the campus’s landscape is an essential step in preserving this historically significant grove that is an essential contributor to this cultural resource we all cherish, Barnsdall Art Park, and UNESCO contributor, Hollyhock House.” “The Department of Recreation and Parks is extremely grateful for the partnership we have with the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation and the Los Angeles Parks Foundation,” said Mike Shull, General Manager, Recreation and Parks. “We appreciate their commitment to ensuring that the Barnsdall Park historic olive grove continues to be a healthy landscape of olive trees that the East Hollywood community, visitors, and generations to come can enjoy.”
“The Barnsdall Art Park Foundation is thrilled to celebrate the centennial of Hollyhock House and these incredible milestones throughout Barnsdall Art Park, one of the great gems in our city’s crown,” said the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation’s President, Daniel Gerwin. “We are excited to work with the City and all our partners to honor Aline Barnsdall’s extraordinary vision. Because the park is virtually the only green space serving the local community, the Barnsdall Olive Grove Initiative is of vital importance both historically and socially.”
“The Los Angeles Parks Foundation is committed to restoring our city’s urban forest through tree-plantings and restoration projects,” said Executive Director Carolyn Ramsay. “We are honored to work with the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation and the City of Los Angeles at this significant historic site and beloved community park.”
In his 2014 article entitled, “When East Hollywood’s Barnsdall Art Park Was an Olive Orchard,” for his Lost LA series for KCET, Nathan Masters writes, “Before the Hollyhock House, there were olive trees—a veritable army of them, some 1,225, each spaced 20 feet apart, marching up the hillside in an orderly grid formation.” Masters explains how Joseph H. Spires established the commercial orchard in the 1890s as a means to earn revenue while he developed his unrealized plans for a grand hotel atop the site. His property became known as Olive Hill. “In 1916, the hill stood in for Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives in D.W. Griffith’s ‘Intolerance.’ Four years later, on April 4, 1920, an estimated crowd of 10,000 assembled around Olive Hill for Hollywood’s first Easter sunrise service with the Los Angeles Philharmonic—a tradition that moved the following year to the Hollywood Bowl,” Masters explains.
Philanthropist and oil heiress Aline Barnsdall purchased the 36-acre tract from Spires’ widow. Barnsdall’s goal was to use the site for her home and an ambitious theatrical arts complex designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The existing olive grove was preserved and incorporated into Wright’s landscape plans, which he created with his son, Lloyd Wright. In 1927, Barnsdall donated Hollyhock House and a portion of her land to the City of Los Angeles to establish a public park. She wrote, “I gave this park not only as a gift but as the expression of an idea, and what I care most about is [that] this idea—labeled Barnsdall Park—shall live and develop with the years.”
After her death in 1946, Barnsdall’s property was subdivided into several commercial and residential parcels. By 1992, only 90 olive trees remained. The 1995 Barnsdall Park Master Plan, created by Peter Walker William Johnson and Partners, Lehrer Architects, Levin & Associates Architects, and Kosmont Associates, proposed adding 1,376 new olive trees. Many dimensions of that comprehensive landscape plan were completed in 2003— including the addition of 315 olive trees.
“During our soil analysis and assessment of the condition and health of the site, we discovered that 19 olive trees are likely from the original grove established in the 1890s,” explained Los Angeles Parks Foundation Project Manager and Horticulturist, Katherine Pakradouni. “Those fruiting trees have produced 58 seedlings that are growing near the older tree canopies. We are hopeful that those special seedlings may be nurtured into vibrant saplings at the Los Angeles Parks Foundation headquarters at the historic Commonwealth Nursery in Griffith Park and replanted at Barnsdall Art Park or other locations throughout the city.”
The Barnsdall Art Park Foundation’s community partnership with the City of L.A. and the Los Angeles Parks Foundation reactivates the important objectives of the 1995 Master Plan, honors Aline Barnsdall’s extraordinary legacy, and preserves a vibrant landscape established 130 years ago.
About Barnsdall Art Park Barnsdall Art Park is owned by the City of Los Angeles, operated by the Department of Cultural Affairs and maintained by the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Department of General Services.
About the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation
The Barnsdall Art Park Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Established in 2003, BAPF’s mission is to ensure that Barnsdall Art Park is a vibrant, inclusive space for creativity, cultural expression, civic conversation, and social empowerment. www.barnsdall.org Instagram: @BarnsdallFoundation Twitter: @BarnsdallFndn Facebook: @BarnsdallFoundation
About the Los Angeles Parks Foundation
Established in 2008 as a California not-for-profit, the Los Angeles Parks Foundation was created to support the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks. Its mission is to enhance, expand, preserve, and promote public recreation, parks, and open space for the diverse people of Los Angeles. www.laparksfoundation.org Instagram: @laparksfoundation Twitter: @laparksfndtion Facebook: @laparksfoundation
Eraina Davis is a writer and entrepreneur. She has written for “Healthy Living” magazine as well as several academic publications. She opened one of the first pop-up shops in downtown New Haven, Connecticut called The Good Life, where she gave advice to entrepreneurs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, an M.Ed in Education and an MAR in Religion from Yale.
As you mature and experience some things in life, there is evidence. Whether it be a scar or a trophy, good or bad, something always remains to remind us of the process. After you have gone through a dark place and put the work in, it’s o.k. to come out glowing. Updates and upgrades should be taking place even if the machine remains the same. People in your circle should begin to change, places you go should be new to you, and things you do should not be the same as before. Your glow should line up with your growth.
It’s easy to become accustomed to hardships and be satisfied when there is no struggle. Although the old operating system worked fine, it’s not sufficient for the time. You need more than “good enough.” You need to match the place you have grown into. Don’t be afraid to leave the old and come up to the next level. If you choose to stay in underdeveloped environments, you will never reach your full potential. When you grow, glow so that others know its possible.
A man was critically hurt in a fire May 10, 2021 in Uptown. | Sun-Times file photo
The fire broke out in a third-floor apartment in the 900 block of West Lawrence Avenue, Chicago fire officials said.
A man died after he was injured in a fire Monday at a senior living center in the Uptown neighborhood.
Young Lee, 65, was found by firefighters on a burning couch at the Heiwa Terrace apartments at 920 W. Lawrence Ave., according to Chicago fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The fire broke out 3:30 a.m. Monday in a third-floor apartment, fire officials said. Lee was taken in critical condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center. He died at 12:27 a.m. Tuesday, the medical examiner’s office said.
An autopsy was scheduled.
A Chicago police officer was injured at the scene but refused medical help, according to fire officials.
If you visit the Chicago History Museum, you will see only a fraction of its unparalleled collection. Among the hundreds of thousands of treasures carefully stashed away are these eight unique artifacts, each a window into a chapter of the city’s past.Read More
For Lottie Crouch, 75, the decision on which hospital to take her to after a stroke — and how long that would take — might have been the difference between life and death. Similar decisions are faced every day all over rural Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta. | Owen Hornstein / InvestigateTV
Nearly 800,000 people a year nationwide have strokes. In these rural areas, over 80% of counties have stroke death rates above the national average. Plus: Recognize signs of a stroke.
Debbie Cook was in her pajamas on a summer morning in 2019 when she got a call from her son: “Something bad is wrong with Granny.”
The fear in his voice told Cook it was serious. She dialed 911 immediately, knowing it could take time for an ambulance to navigate the country roads in Fentress County, Tennessee.
She got dressed and made the short drive across the family farm, over two bridges and a creek to her mother’s house. Cook prayed that one of the three ambulances covering their roughly 500-square-mile county was near.
When she arrived, she found her mother Lottie Crouch in the bathroom, unable to stand or walk. Cook, a licensed practical nurse, recognized the signs: lopsided face, one side of the mouth drooping.
Her mama was having a stroke.
“I was petrified,” Cook says.
She started her career working with stroke rehabilitation patients and knew that getting the right care fast could mean life or death or a big difference in her mother’s quality of life. Crouch was 75 and still energetic and loved doing things like firing up a kettle of soup for herself. To continue living the life Crouch knew, each step toward getting care in a rural area had to go right.
But when the paramedics arrived, one of the biggest questions was: Where would they take Crouch for care?
Owen Hornstein / InvestigateTVWhen Lottie Crouch (left) had a stroke in August 2019, her daughter Debbie Cook (right) knew that getting the right care fast could mean life or death.
Across the nation, nearly 800,000 people have strokes each year. The issue is particularly acute across the regions of Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, where more than 80% of counties have stroke death rates above the national average. Many also face high rates of poverty, have vulnerable elderly populations and have a shortage of medical providers or have seen hospitals shut down.
In Tennessee, two million people — nearly one-third of the state — are people like Crouch who live more than 45 minutes from a hospital that is stroke-certified and able to provide the most advanced care, according to an analysis by KHN and InvestigateTV. Rates are even higher in Delta states such as Arkansas and Mississippi, where more than half the people would need to drive more than 45 minutes to those specialized stroke centers.
The analysis is part of a yearlong project called Bridging the Great Health Divide, in which KHN and Gray Television’s InvestigateTV national investigative team are digging into health issues that have plagued these regions, stroke chief among them. Despite advancements in stroke care, routing patients from rural parts of Appalachia and the Delta to the appropriate facility is an intricate jigsaw puzzle.
“There’s not the same one correct answer for all patients,” says Dr. Raul Nogueira, an interventional neurologist at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
Where a patient should be taken for care “really depends on travel time,” he says. “It’s all about time.”
For years, the advice for stroke patients has been to get to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. A stroke cuts off blood flow to part of the brain. The sooner that blood flow can be restored the better. So the idea has been to get patients to any doctor quickly.
But research shows some stroke patients benefit more from advanced procedures typically done by specialists at large medical centers. So the new goal is to get people to the right doctor at the righthospital as soon as possible.
In some cases, that means skipping the closest hospital. For those who’ve had a severe stroke, in which a clot is blocking one of the brain’s major arteries, the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recommend traveling up to an additional 30 minutes in urban areas and 60 minutes in rural areas to reach a hospital with advanced stroke-treatment capabilities.
That’s easy enough in a city where hospitals are clustered together. In rural areas like Fentress County, where to take a patient has become increasingly fraught.
FAR FROM STROKE CARE
Hannah Recht / KHNSOURCES: Joint Commission, DNV, HFAP, U.S. Census Bureau, NHGIS, USGS, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, HERE Technologies
Big decisions, little time
When Lottie Crouch had her stroke, what would have been the nearest hospital, less than 20 minutes away, had closed two months earlier. It’s one of 136 rural hospitals nationwide that, since 2010, have been shut down, including nearly three dozen across Appalachia and the Delta. That meant the closest in-state hospital for Crouch was nearly 45 minutes away by car, and medical centers with the most advanced care were more than an hour’s drive. That left emergency medical services stretched thin trying to transport patients farther away.
Each step in the process to get someone who’d had a stroke to the right care within the right amount of time had become more complex.
The decisions are rarely clear-cut, Nogueira says. A person who’s had a severe stroke might benefit from getting to a large medical center where it’s possible to undergo surgery right away, he says. Stopping at a smaller hospital that can’t perform that procedure might unnecessarily delay care.
But if the stroke is less severe, the person might benefit from first going to a closer facility that can offer medications to break up the clot sooner, Nogueira says. The patient could avoid unnecessary medical bills from a long trip, anything from $500 for a ride in a regular ambulance to $50,000 for a helicopter. And that person’s family could save the time and money needed to visit them at a faraway hospital.
The problem is that first-responders can’t necessarily tell how severe a stroke is by looking at someone. They rely on an evaluation of the symptoms.
The gravity of these decisions weighs on Jamey Beaty, a paramedic who responded to Lottie Crouch’s home.
“When you’re in the back of a truck and all alone, and you have a patient actively dying on you, the only thing you can think about is: How can I keep this patient alive until I can get them somewhere?” Beaty says.
Anytime Beaty gets a call about a stroke, he looks at the sky. Since the local hospital closed, an air ambulance is how he quickly gets people to treatment. The day Lottie Crouch had her stroke, the Tennessee sky was clear blue. Crouch was taken nearly 100 miles to a hospital in Knoxville with advanced stroke services.
Haelee StocktonWhen Lottie Crouch had a stroke on Aug. 16, 2019, in Fentress County, Tennessee, paramedics drove her to a field to transfer to an air ambulance that flew her to a hospital nearly 100 miles away.
Long journey for advanced care
Over the past two decades, two main treatments have advanced care for strokes caused by a blockage — the most common type of stroke in America. The first is a medication delivered through an IV to break up clots in blood vessels. The medicine has to be given within four and a half hours of when symptoms start. The second is a procedure using a catheter to remove the clot. This treatment can be done up to 24 hours after symptoms start but generally is used only for severe strokes.
Around the country, hospitals are certified by tiers, largely based on their ability to regularly provide these treatments. Some hospitals have no certification. Among stroke-certified hospitals, the first level is acute stroke-ready hospitals, which can assess stroke patients, keep them stable and provide clot-busting medications. At the other end of the spectrum are comprehensive stroke centers, which have specialized teams of neurologists and neurosurgeons. In addition to giving the clot-busting drugs, these centers can remove clots.
KHNThis analysis classifies acute stroke-ready and primary stroke centers as basic-care stroke centers and thrombectomy-capable and comprehensive stroke centers as advanced-care stroke centers.
The big question is: Which facility can and should stroke patients be taken to first to get the right care quickly?
In Appalachia, about 11% of the population has to drive more than 45 minutes to reach any kind of stroke center, according to the KHN and InvestigateTV analysis. That proportion is even higher in the Delta, where nearly a third of people would have to drive more than 45 minutes to a stroke center. Another third of Delta residents have only basic-care stroke centers within that distance and would need to drive farther for advanced stroke surgeries.
In the most rural parts of these regions, people are less likely to be near an advanced-care stroke facility.
Kevin Hughes / InvestigateTVJamestown Regional Medical Center was the only hospital in Fentress County, Tennessee. Closed in June 2019, it’s among more than 100 rural hospitals that have been shut down since 2010.
Rural, largely African American
While reaching appropriate stroke care in time is difficult for many rural Americans, such as Crouch, who is white, the concerns are compounded for places with a large Black population.
In Sumter County, Alabama, several people interviewed — from a business owner to a college professor to a judge — were able to name someone off the top of their heads who has had a stroke. The county is more than 70% Black and is one of the poorest areas in the state.
The only hospital within county lines has no stroke certification. Loretta Wilson, the chief executive officer of Hill Hospital of Sumter County, says she wishes her facility could do more for stroke patients, but clot-busting medications can cost $8,000 a dose, and the hospital can’t always afford to keep them on hand.
Most stroke patients are taken to larger hospitals at least 30 or 40 minutes away. That can be a long and expensive journey for many residents, Wilson says.
Understanding that, she focuses largely on prevention efforts. She runs a nonprofit that tackles issues like high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, all which raise a person’s risk of stroke. Her organization works with churches to help people learn about healthy eating and exercise, and it passes around blood pressure monitors so congregants can screen themselves after services.
“We have a high African American population,” says Wilson, who is African American, “and those are the ones who really need the services.”
Using Telestroke to boost rural care
In rural hospitals, even if doctors have access to clot-busting drugs, they might hesitate to administer them for fear of harming the patient. In rare instances — about 2% to 7% of the time — the drugs can cause bleeding in the brain.
But not using the drugs also can have consequences. A national study published last year found stroke patients in rural hospitals were less likely to get those medications than those seen at urban hospitals. They also were more likely to die in rural hospitals.
Telestroke programs can help bridge that gap, says Dr. Amelia Adcock, a neurologist at WVU Medicine in West Virginia and head of the system’s telestroke network. By connecting doctors from smaller, often rural, hospitals with an on-call specialist at a large medical center, the programs let people “share the burden of decision-making” and also the liability, Adcock says.
Dr. Michael Gould is an emergency medicine doctor at the 25-bed Potomac Valley Hospital in rural northern West Virginia. His hospital is not stroke-certified and does not have a neurologist on staff. Gould says giving clot-busting drugs is “one of the decisions in medicine that makes me the most nervous.”
But consulting with neurologists at WVU Medicine’s hub about 80 miles away in Morgantown has given him more confidence, says Gould, who estimates he now administers the drugs once or twice a month.
A study of WVU Medicine’s telestroke network found the number of stroke patients receiving clot-busting medications nearly doubled over the first three years of the program.
Last fall, Christopher Green was picking up groceries when he suddenly developed a severe headache and lost his peripheral vision. Green, a paramedic, immediately recognized what was happening. “Oh, my God, I’m having a stroke,” he remembers thinking.
He was brought to Gould’s hospital, and the emergency staff immediately fired up the telestroke program. Within 30 minutes, Green got drugs to break up the blockage.
“A textbook outcome,” says Green, who has responded to many 911 calls for stroke.
Green says he probably would have taken a patient in his situation to a farther hospital that was stroke-certified. But experiencing the telestroke program changed his outlook.
”Now, I see that delaying that treatment 20 to 30 minutes makes a difference on whether you have a full resolution or some kind of residual effects,” he says.
Tara ButlerChristopher Green has worked in emergency medical services for nearly 30 years. Having a stroke himself changed his outlook on how to respond to 911 calls for stroke.
‘What could it have been?’
In Tennessee, Debbie Cook was grateful her mother was taken to the advanced-care stroke center in Knoxville. It allowed her mother to get the treatment she needed so she can still lead a mostly independent life.
But there were tradeoffs. Cook, her sister and her daughter took turns driving the nearly two hours each way to watch over Crouch in the hospital each night.
After 10 days, when Crouch was transferred to a rehab facility closer to home, the family felt a sense of relief. They could bring her meatloaf and wild blackberry dumplings for dinner. And “a lot of peppermint candy,” Crouch says — her favorite.
She’s now healthy and at home. But her 27-year-old granddaughter Haelee Stockton is haunted by what could have happened that day if the paramedics hadn’t made it in time or if bad weather had kept the helicopter from flying.
“How lucky was she?” Stockton says. “And how many people are going to get that lucky in the future?”
Owen Hornstein / InvestigateTVHaelee Stockton’s grandmother Lottie Crouch survived a stroke in 2019, but Stockton worries others might not be as lucky.
A 20-year-old man was charged with a fatal shooting May 8, 2021, in the 600 block of North Homan Avenue. | Adobe Stock Photo
Watson was arrested a day later in the 5400 block of North Northwest Highway, after he was identified by police as the person who allegedly fired the fatal shots.
A 20-year-old man has been charged with a fatal shooting Sunday in West Garfield Park on the West Side.
Deangelo Watson was charged with a felony count of first-degree murder, according to Chicago police.
About 10 p.m. May 8, 36-year-old Robert Hogan was in the 600 block of North Homan Avenue, when he was shot multiple times, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Watson was arrested a day later in the 5400 block of North Northwest Highway, after he was identified by police as the person who allegedly fired the fatal shots, police said.
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lesraff
January 17, 2020 at 12:00 am