title: Establishment of a stroke unit in a district hospital: review of experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The experience and outcomes of co-locating acute stroke and stroke rehabilitation care in a district hospital were reviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information for patients admitted to Blacktown and Mt Druitt Hospitals before and after setting up an acute stroke unit (SU) (12 months data for each period), including mortality and length of stay (LOS) at the hospital were obtained from various sources, including the diagnosis-related group and subacute and non-acute casemix databases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant reduction of mortality (18 vs 10%; P = 0.01) and reduced total LOS (46 vs 39 days; P = 0.01) with similar functional outcomes in the post-SU period. Fifty per cent of patients were unable to access the acute SU. Patients admitted into the SU had lower mortality (5 vs 14%; P = 0.01) and were also discharged from hospital earlier (35 vs 54 days; P = 0.01) than patients admitted into general wards during the post-SU period. Thirty-four per cent of patients received rehabilitation within the rehabilitation facility in the post-SU period compared with 19% in the pre-SU period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Blacktown experience showed the feasibility of establishing a co-located SU within rehabilitation facility with good outcomes as illustrated by the significant reduction in the stroke mortality, a reduction in the total LOS and an increase in the number of patients receiving rehabilitation post-stroke.
authors.affiliation: Geriatrics, Westmead Hospital, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheuk
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cordato
authors.forename: D K Y
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000639:trends; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation