The expansion will offer services for neurological disorders like strokes, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Epilepsy and other movement disorders.
SUMTER, S.C. — Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital now has its first in-house neurology department.
The expansion in Sumter will offer local inpatient and outpatient services for neurological disorders like strokes, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Epilepsy and other movement disorders.
“Time is brain and it’s important that patients, once they’re presenting acutely, that they can see a neurologist within a very short period of time to prevent long term morbidity and mortality,” Dr. Courtney Litchmore, a neurologist at Tuomey Hospital, said.
Prisma Health says patients who needed these services had to make the trip to Columbia to receive them.
“It has had a tremendous impact, especially since we have started our outpatient settings, I’ve been seeing a lot of new patients that have been waiting for neurologists for like up to one to two years so significantly making a dent in seeing those patients that have been waiting for neurologists long term,” Litchmore said.
Litchmore added that the expansion includes outpatient care, which will allow patients to remain in Sumter when receiving treatment.
“We have recently established an outpatient setting where we can see patient for long term, continue to give care for a range of neurological condition ranging from seizures, epilepsy, stroke, neuromuscular junction disorders and stroke,” he said.
Doctors say for the last five years neurology patients in Sumter were only able to be seen by nurse practitioners, adding that access to this care right in their community is extremely crucial.
Prisma Health expands neurological care in Sumter
