UMC receives first-of-its-kind accreditation in Borderland

University Medical Center was certified as the first and only comprehensive stroke center in West Texas on Friday.

The accreditation means UMC can provide care for “the most complex” neurological cases, Salvador Cruz-Flores explained.

Doctors at UMC specialize in cutting-edge treatments and specific medical techniques to treat patients.

Cruz-Flores, a neurrologist, said more than 800,000 people in the United States suffer from a stroke each year, and for around one-third of those patients, it’s their second one.

He said strokes occur due to “clotting within the blood vessels within the brain, and or rupture of blood vessels that cause hemorrhages,” adding that medical conditions like diabetes, elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure, in particular, contribute to the likelihood of the cerebral vascular event.

“Certainly, about 50, 60 percent of people are over 60 years of age, however strokes can affect almost anybody,” said Cruz-Flores. “In fact, minorities, Blacks and Hispanics, could be affected at an earlier age.”

While the symptoms transpire in many way, there are several to heed.

“The person loses the ability to speak, or the speech becomes slurred,” said Cruz-Flores. “The other is the person has like a droopy face, associated or not with the slurring of the speech. The person may have weakness in the arm and or leg.”

Prior to UMC’s designation, Cruz-Flores said the nearest centers for stroke patients were in Phoenix and San Antonio.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on the UMC grounds in south-central El Paso.